


Warm and Fuzzy Inside

by LuminescentLily



Series: Love is Oblivious [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, BAMF!Erica, Bete du Gevaudan, Bottom Stiles Stilinski, Erica and Stiles are bros, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Jealous Derek, Knotting, Luparii, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Derek, Oblivious Stiles, POV Derek, POV Stiles, Pack Dynamics, Pack Gathering, Perigee Supermoon, Pining, Sassy Erica, Top Derek Hale, Werewolf Culture, Werewolf History, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 02:00:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 68,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuminescentLily/pseuds/LuminescentLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After dealing with hunters who wanted them dead, Peter, Laura, Derek, Stiles, and the Sheriff have finally caught a break. They're all heading off to the big Pack Gathering, where Stiles will get to meet and make friends with more werewolves his age. As a special treat, Peter and the other Alphas managed to arange the Gathering to coincide with the Perigee Supermoon, which is celebrated by werewolves as their greatest holiday.</p><p>The tension between Stiles and Derek is stronger than ever but will they finally realize their feelings for each other, or will another rival for Stiles' affection get in way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hoars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoars/gifts), [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> I'm back! I sorry for long way but a little family emergency got in the way. The updates for this story might be a little slower than last time, since I still don't have a computer, but hopefully not by much because I have this story more planned out than any of my previous ones. Also, the first chapter was delayed because I was struck by inspiration for some of the scenes in later chapters and had to write those first.
> 
> Any first time readers might want to read the other stories in the series first, so that this one will make more sense.
> 
> This part of the Series is dedicated to hoars and NimblePhoenix who are both amazingly talented writers who inspired me to try writing my own fanfiction in the first place.
> 
> It was hoars' story "Festival of Red" that first got me thinking about werewolf customs and traditions which will be a big part of this story. And NimblePhoenix who gave me some great research advise which helped me find about three quarters of the history and legends that I'll be using. So thank you both.
> 
> Lastly, this first chapter is a little shorter than I intended but that was just because I wanted to get it out faster for my loyal readers who were waiting for it. I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

One equation left. Just one more equation to figure out and then he would be free. One stubborn, little equation that simply refused to be solved. It would be simpler if the test was multiple choice but it wasn’t and he had to actually show his work.

It was the final exam for his last class and, once he was done, he could go home. Not back to his dorm room but home, back to Beacon Hills. All his stuff was already packed in his Jeep, which was waiting for him in the parking lot outside. It had actually been packed for a week. The previous night had been spent saying his goodbyes to new friends and his roommate, with promises to see them again in a few weeks for the summer semester. Now, the one thing keeping him from home and pack was this one stupid equation.

The problem wasn’t even that hard. Under normal circumstances, he’d have finished it in a minute. He was just too distracted by the prospect of going home to really focus on it. Every time he tried concentrate on the numbers on the page in front of him, his mind just drifted to thoughts of home and pack and Derek. And the incredible fact that they would all be going to the big Pack Gathering that they’d been planning for over a year now. He was finally going to meet more werewolves from other packs. It was going to be awesome!

Frankly, he was surprised he made it till the last problem before his brain decided to shut down like this.

He could have just skipped it, left it blank and handed in his test. He was fairly certain he’d aced the rest of the test so that this one problem wouldn’t bring his grade down by any noticeable margin. But that nagging little voice in the back of his head just wouldn’t let him. It would be a betrayal of all the hard work he’d put into getting into a great school like Berkeley, if he didn’t do his absolute best. He fully intended to graduate at the top of his class and no insignificant math problem was going to spoil that for him.

It wasn’t that he hated math, like how most people always complain about, he just liked math when he could do something with it. Things like figuring out the angle to use to do a trick shot on a pool table or even budgeting his money for groceries. Solving equations just for the sake of solving equations held no appeal for him and unfortunately that’s what most of this class was.

His professor had touched a tiny bit on other math related subjects, like Sacred Geometry and how ancient cultures used to believe that, when they were discovering new mathematical formulas, they were uncovering the language of the gods. That had sounded fascinating and he had written it down on a list of topics to look into at some future point. But for the most part this class had been nothing more than the standard Gen-Ed class every new college student had to take before moving on to their major.

Time seemed to stretch on forever. Each tick of the clock on the wall echoed in his ears, like a new evolution of Chinese water torture. One problem shouldn’t be this hard. It wasn’t rocket science or brain surgery. He just needed to think.

_WWLMD. What Would Lydia Martin Do?_

After Stiles had stopped worshiping the ground she walked on—coincidently around the same time he met Derek—the two of them had actually become pretty good friends and study buddies. Not that Lydia ever really needed any help studying, Stiles just got the impression that she liked being able to talk to someone that she didn’t have to hide her intelligence around. And—not to boast or anything—Stiles was probably the only one in the entire school who was anywhere near as smart as she was. Lydia and he had graduated as Valedictorian and Salutatorian, respectively.

_So how would she attack this problem?_

A few years ago, thinking about Lydia would have only have distracted him even more. It was a little amazing how much he’d changed in a few short years, because now thinking of Lydia just helped him zero in on the problem.

_Okay, just breakdown the equation into its simplest parts._

Soon the numbers were just falling into place in his brain.

_That’s IT!_

Slamming his pencil down on the desk much harder than he’d intended, he saw a few people jump in their seats around him. Ignoring the dirty looks he got from other students who were still frustratingly making their way through the test, he gathered up his papers and nearly skipped to the professor’s desk. It wasn’t one of those cool auditorium style rooms—those were reserved for the really interesting classes and the professors who had tenure—so he was handing in his test and out the door in seconds.

_Sweet freedom!_

Sprinting to the parking lot, he had to use all the control he possessed to keep himself from using his werewolf strength to jump over the other cars in his way. He still made it to his Jeep at a pace that would turn an Olympic Sprinter green with envy.

Nearly ripping his pants with how hard he pulled his keys out, he unlocked the driver side door and hopped in. All his stuff was in the back and ready to go. Bunched up in the front passenger seat were the various sheets and pillowcases his dad and the pack had sent him.

When he’d first started at Berkeley, he’d had a hard time falling asleep. Being away from his pack had been hard at first, so his dad had thought up an idea of having the pack send him thing with their scent to help him sleep at night. It worked like a charm. He still missed home like crazy but at least he was able to sleep at night, cocooned in the scent of home and pack.

Then there was the shirt.

The Shirt.

Derek’s Shirt.

The one he buried his face in every night, when he went to sleep. He would have worn it while he jerked off, to have Derek’s scent all over him body as he came, but he was terrified that Derek might smell his cum on it when he brought it home. He could always wash the shirt enough times to get the smell of cum out but that would also obliterate Derek’s scent as well.

The shirt that Derek sent him along with all the sheets and pillowcases from the pack. The one that was absolutely drenched in Derek’s scent. The concentration of Derek’s scent on the shirt was so powerful, so intense; it had to be one of his workout shirts. But it also smelt a little like the forest so maybe he’d worn it when he went running. Except Derek liked to go shirtless, when he went for his run.

Stiles didn’t know which was worse, the fact that he knew something like that about Derek’s habits or that it was now impossible not to think about Derek shirtless.

And Derek had sent the shirt to him.

No one else had sent him an article of clothing, just sheets and pillow cases.

When he’d first gotten it in the mail almost a month ago, he’d spent the first week going crazy trying to figure out what Derek had meant by it. He must have started and deleted over a thousand text messages to Derek asking about it. Not to mention all the times on the phone, when he was just about to ask Derek but chickened out at the last second. Derek hadn’t brought the subject up either so Stiles had no idea how to handle the situation.

_Maybe I should ask Laura. Or I could just ask Derek himself, when I see him._

Either way, he had a seven hour drive ahead of him to make up his mind. Turning the key, his baby came roaring to life and he threw her into gear. Needing a way to release some of the nervous energy coursing through him body, he cranked his radio up as loud as his ears could stand and started tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel and loudly singing along with the Taylor Swift song that came on. He blamed Laura for the fact that he knew all the words.

He was just about to turn onto the interstate, when he realized how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten much that morning, too distracted by the last of his finals and thoughts of home. Not eating enough was a strain on any teenage boy but adding the fact that he was a werewolf on top of that and it could make for a very long and miserable ride home. So he switched lanes just in time and headed towards the nearest source of food he could find.

Being a college town, Berkeley had plenty of cheap and fast places to eat for the hoards of ravenous college students, especially around Midterms and Finals, but Stiles had always been rather picky about his food. At first it had been because of his dad’s health, but later it had more to do with his new werewolf senses. His wolf liked food that was as close to its natural state as possible. All that processed, salted, and high fructose corn syrup filled garbage that littered the selves of your average Supermarket made his stomach churn in disgust. He could still eat it, if he was desperate enough, but he never enjoyed it. No more pigging out on chips and hot pockets, like he used to.

Driving past several fast food establishments, he pulled his jeep into a local grocery store. It wasn’t as big as some of the other Supermarkets in the area but they had a great Deli section that made some truly amazing subs. Their organic fruit section wasn’t bad either.

Browsing through a couple of the aisles, he made his way to the Deli section in the back. Luck was with him today because the older woman with the poorly done dye-job was manning the sandwich counter. She was always nice and knew how to make a sandwich. She never skimped on the sliced meats, unlike the pinched-faced younger guy who made sandwiches that were nearly all lettuce.

He ordered two subs, one turkey and one roast beef, with plenty of other toppings on whole wheat rolls. Once he had his sandwiches, he headed towards the produce department to see if they had any of those bottled fruit smoothies that were made from actual fruit and not just food coloring and corn syrup. Finding them fairly quick, he then had to decide which flavors to choose. He prefered to go with more odd-flavored combination of fruits than just sticking with the typical strawberry-banana. There was a kiwi-melon one that looked interesting.

Just then a familiar scent reached his nose and drew his attention to the right.

Not ten feet from him, examining some tomatoes, was his history teacher, Professor Brunner. In a tight-nit community like Berkeley, it’s inevitable that you would run into at least one of your professors around town. But it never really gets any less awkward. He’d run into his math teacher at a pizza parlor and his Film Studies teacher at a bar.

Professor Brunner was a man in his mid-fifties with plain features and more grey in his hair than not. He dressed like a stereotypical college professor with a tweed vest and brown loafers. The only thing he was missing was a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, but Professor Brunner had excellent vision as a few unfortunate students who tried to mess around in the back of his class had discovered the hard way.

All hope of being able to sneak away without being noticed promptly vanished when Professor Brunner looked up and locked eyes with him. It’s not that Stiles didn’t like Professor Brunner—he was actually Stiles’ favorite teacher so far—it was just that the older man had a tendency to ramble on and Stiles _really_ wanted to hit the road.

“Mr. Stilinski,” Professor Brunner announced. “Done with your finals already. Or are you just refueling for the next one?”

“Just finished my last one,” Stiles answered a bit proudly. “Math. Wasn’t too hard. The last questions kinda stumped me for a little bit but I’m pretty sure I got it in the end.”

“Ah, so you’re stocking up to celebrate the end of the semester,” Professor Brunner grinned.

Stiles knew what he was implying. Most students tend to go out and drown whatever brain cells they have left right after Finals. The whole town goes a little wild. Some of the bars even look the other way when students who aren’t quite twenty-one buy a few drinks.

For some reason Stiles didn’t want Professor Brunner to think of him like that. Brunner wasn’t just a history teacher but was in fact the head of the entire Archeology Department at Berkeley. Supposedly he teaches an introductory history class every so often to try and inspire new students into his field. Stiles had been lucky enough to get into one of his classes. So far it had been the most interesting class he’d had at Berkeley. It didn’t hurt that Brunner was also one of the smartest people Stiles had ever met and not that snooty, superior kind of smart either.

“No, I mean yes, I’m stocking up—but not to celebrate” he hastily corrected, subconsciously lifting up the fruit smoothie in his defense. “That’s not to say that I won’t be celebrating the end of the semester, just that it will be at home. My home, not the dorm. I’m stocking up for the seven hour drive back to Beacon Hills.”

“Hmm, a fellow native,” Brunner said. “But I’m surprised that you’re in such a hurry to head home. Most people your age are reveling in the freedom that college offers.”

“Yeah, well, I’m atypical,” Stiles shrugged.

“Yes, I have noticed that over this past semester,” Brunner smiled. “It was truly evident in your final paper that you handed in yesterday.”

“You’ve already graded my final paper?” Stiles asked excitedly. He’d put a lot of research hours into that paper and he was pretty damn proud of it. And he desperately wanted to know what Brunner had thought of it.

“I managed to skim through it,” Brunner replied. “I like to leave the more interesting sounding papers for last, and ‘The History of Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World’ is a rather intriguing.”

“Well, yeah, I kinda wanted to go with something a little different than the stuff that’s been done a thousand times.”

“More like a million times,” Brunner agreed. “And from the little I read it was quite good. I left the part about the poisoned arrows and scorpion bombs for later, after I’ve suffered through a few dozen papers about Queen Elizabeth or the Revolutionary War. Though I admit I read the part about Greek Fire, because I’m rather familiar with that myself, and I was very impressed. You have a flare for presenting your ideas and so far you seem to be the only one of my students who knows how to properly cite your sources. And I could see you did more than a fair amount of research.”

Stiles was trying to hold back a blush at this point but he still managed to stumble his way through a response.

“Yeah, well, you know I have mad GoogleFu skills,” he boasted. “Not that I didn’t use actual books and articles too.”

“Yes, I saw,” Brunner chuckled. “I think your paper is the only one that _doesn’t_ list Wikipedia as a source. It’s such a shame that, in this age where all this knowledge is so readily available, so few people seem interested in it. Half the people in my archeology course drop out as soon as they realize that it’s nothing like an Indiana Jones movie.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles agreed. “My dad is always complaining about how many police recruits he loses, when they realize it’s nothing like CSI or Law and Order.”

“I take it your father is a police officer?” Brunner guessed.

“Sheriff,” Stiles corrected proudly.

“Any plans of following in his footsteps?”

“I’ve thought about it,” Stiles said. “But it doesn’t quite seem right for me.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, have you given any consideration to what you’ll do after you graduate?” Brunner asked. “I believe you are still undeclared for your major, are you not?”

Stiles bit his lip nervously. Lots of college freshman and even sophomores were still undeclared but he was the kind of person who liked having a plan or at least a goal to work towards.

“Yeah, for now I’m still kinda just going over my options. Trying to see what feels right,” he confirmed.

“Have you considered Archeology?” Brunner asked. “While I’m a bit biased, since it’s my department, I do believe it is an excellent field for a mind such as yours.”

“I have thought about it, it’s just…”

“You don’t want to spend your time in dusty old libraries or digging up rocks,” Brunner grinned.

“No, noo,” Stiles denied. “I would love that! Especially the library part. It’s just that I plan on going back home after I graduate. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to travel and stuff, but I’d really love some kind of career that I could do back home. I don’t really like living in big cities, even Berkeley is a little much for me sometimes, and there aren’t exactly any big archeological sites in Beacon Hills.”

_Plus I could never stay away from my pack that long._

“I see,” Brunner nodded in understanding.

“I would really love to major in history but there really isn’t much you can do with that back home, except teach, and I don’t think I’m cut out for that,” Stiles continued. Then he realized he’d inadvertently insulted Professor Brunner and added, “No offense.”

“None taken, I assure you,” Brunner chuckled. “Couldn’t see myself teaching either, when I was your age. But, if I may make a suggestion?”

“Of course,” Stiles agreed, eagerly.

“Have you ever considered a degree in Library Sciences?” Brunner inquired thoughtfully.

Immediately, the image of old Mrs. Pierson, the Beacon Hills Librarian, popped into his head. She was an ancient little lady, who was nearly blind without her inch thick glasses but with ears like a bat. She’d thrown Stiles out of the Library more times than he could remember, back when he had ADHD. The idea of becoming like her in any way was not appealing.

“Yeah, I’m not really sure being a librarian is right for me,” Stiles grimaced.

“There’s more to a degree in Library Sciences than just becoming a librarian,” Brunner laughed heartily. “Essentially, a Library Sciences degree is a degree in researching.”

“You can get a degree in research?” Stiles asked, dumbstruck.

All his life, Stiles had been almost addicted to looking things up. Everything and anything that could pop into his head, he would find out everything about it. It was always something that he just did. It never occurred to him that he could get a job from it.

“Indeed,” Brunner went on. “There are many varied companies and professions that require researchers. Everything from newspapers and magazines to law firms to politicians and marketing firms. Not to mention writers. You would be amazed by how many writers hire researchers to look up various facts for them, especially biographers and historical fiction writers. Even some science fiction writers will hire a researcher to look into how scientifically feasible their stories are. You’d be amazed at how valuable a person who can look up vast amounts of information and condense them into a concise manner can be.”

“That would be amazing,” Stiles exclaimed.

“It’s even easier today, what with everyone digitizing their archives, it wouldn’t be too hard to buy a subscription to some of the larger online archives,” Brunner continued. “And there would be opportunities for travel. Just last month, a former student on mine landed a commission to research in Italy. He was paid to travel to Florence for three months to comb through monastery archives and the private library of a Count or Duke.”

“Wow,” Stiles said, near speechless at the possibility.

“Now, keep in mind, he has been a professional researcher for years and has built up a good reputation that allowed him to even be considered for a job like that.”

“Oh, of course,” Stiles hastily agreed. “But still…”

“Worth looking into,” Brunner said.

“Definitely,” Stiles said happily. “Thank you for suggesting it.”

“My pleasure,” Brunner smiled. “Now, I think I’ll let you get on your way, after all you did say it was a seven hour drive home. I’m sure you can use that time to think over what we’ve talked about.”

Stiles jolted, having completely forgot that he had only meant to stop in here for some food for the road.

“Whoa, I better get going,” Stiles enthused. “I’ll see you around professor. And thanks again.”

“Any time.”

Stiles quickly made his way up to the registers to pay for his food and then hopped back in his jeep. As he turned onto the interstate, he went over his their conversation again. Professor Brunner had just opened up a ton of possibilities for him and his mind still needed to process them.

_Guess it’s a good thing I’ve got a very long drive ahead of me._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few notes. Some of you might have noticed that Erica, Boyd, and Isaac will be in this story as well. I decided to make them members of the other packs at the gathering, instead of from Beacon Hills so you should meet them in the next chapter along with some of my own original characters.  
> Secondly, I have no idea how things work at Berkeley or the name of the head of the Archeology Department, if they even have one. Professor Brunner is based off of Chiron's human alias in the Percy Jackson series because I thought he looked like a perfect College professor.  
> Third, the topic of Stiles final paper that he and Professor Bunner are talking about comes from a really interesting book I read recently called 'Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World' by Adrienne Mayor. If you're interested in those kinds of things then you should check it out.  
> And Lasty, I have planned out ten chapters for this story but that might change as the story progresses. Hope you liked the first chapter. I always love hearing from my readers, either in the comments or you can follow me at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so proud of myself that I made my Monday deadline for myself! This chapter turned out to be much longer than I originally planned. I don't know if I was just having a great week or if the ideas for this story just flow better than my previous stories but either way, I'm not complaining.
> 
> Also, I've decided that in this story, rather than having separate chapters for Stiles and Derek's POV, I'm just going to switch back and forth between the two in each chapter. Even if the it's not obvious in the writing for whose POV it is, I will clearly mark where each shift in POV takes place.

 

 

***Stiles’ POV***

It was amazing to find that the seven hour drive home, which normally seemed like an eternity, passed fairly quickly. Whether it was because his mind was so distracted thinking about possible new career opportunities and the big Pack Gathering or maybe he stumbled through some inter-dimensional time vortex without realizing it, he was soon driving past the comfortingly familiar “Welcome to Beacon Hills” sign at the edge of town.

By that time, it was quite late out, though thankfully it hadn’t crossed over into the A.M. hours yet. Figuring that his dad would be busy going over the final few arrangements with his deputies for his vacation this week, Stiles decided to just head straight to the Hale House.

Excitement bubbled up inside of him with each passing mile. Rolling his window down, he had to fight the urge to stick his head out the window so he could better breathe in the scent of home.

When he finally pulled up to the house, Derek, Peter, and Laura were all waiting for him on the front porch. He had called them the last time he’d stopped for a gas, so they’d know about what time he’d be there, but even if he hadn’t done that they still would have heard his Jeep driving up the gravel road leading to the house.

They were on him as soon as he parked, Laura almost tearing the door off its hinges as he turned off the engine. Once he was pulled from the Jeep, he was immediately enveloped in a mass of limbs. Anyone looking at them would probably think that Stiles was involved in some strange polyamory situation with the Hale Family because of all the touching and cuddling going on. Humans just didn’t understand their need to be close. How they needed to touch him in order to replace the smell of college and strangers with the scent of pack. It had only been a few months since he’d seen them last—Skype not included—but it felt like he’d been gone for years.

Eventually, they eased up and helped him bring all his stuff inside. Laura grabbed his duffle bag with all his clothes and promised to throw them in with some last minute stuff she was washing so that he’d have something clean to wear for the Gathering. Then she shot off back into the house like a woman on a mission. Stiles shot Peter and Derek a questioning look but they just rolled their eyes.

As soon as he stepped through the door he understood.

“Whoa!” Stiles exclaimed. “Did a hoard of pillaging Vikings run loose in here while I was gone?”

“Depends, does one person count as a hoard,” Derek smirked.

It looked like an atomic bomb of clothing and luggage had detonated in the Hales’ living room.

“Hurricane Laura has struck,” Peter snarked. “You’re lucky you’ve arrive during the relatively calm eye of the storm.”

“It’s not that bad,” Laura growled. “Besides, you’ll thank me later.”

“Really?” Derek asked, voice dripping with disbelief.

“It’s always better to over pack than to need something later and not have it,” Laura explained. From the tone of her voice, Stiles could tell that she and Derek had had this conversation before.”

“Well, I’m starved,” Stiles announced.

“Good, because you’re just in time for a late dinner and I believe the tea is almost ready,” Peter said.

Just as he finished talking the steam whistle on the kettle went off. While Laura continued her reign of destruction in the living room, Peter ushered Stiles into the kitchen, Derek right on their heels. Soon he had a large plate of food and a steaming mug of tea in front of him. The tea was a delicious chamomile/lemon balm blend with just a hint of peppermint. It was perfect to relax his excited nerves and enjoy being home.

As he ate, he told them all about how life at Berkeley was going and they in turn told him all about what was going on at home. Most of it was stuff all of them already knew, since Stiles called and Skyped with them at least twice a week, but it was so much better to talk in person.

Then he got to the part about his recent conversation with Professor Brunner and the idea of a Library Sciences Degree. Derek and Peter thought it sounded like a great and even Laura called out her approval from the living room.

After he was done eating, Peter got up to try and give Laura a hand. That just left Derek and him alone in the kitchen. Derek started asking him a few more questions about the Library Science Degree but Stiles didn’t really know the answers to them.

Grabbing his laptop from his school bag, he quickly turned it on and logged on to the Berkeley website with Derek looking over his shoulder. Because he was the king of multitasking, he pulled up a few other searches as well like, how much the average person with this degree makes and what kind of job opportunities it opens up.

The first thing he discovered, that it was actually a Master’s degree and not just a Bachelor’s like he’d originally assumed. It was more work than a Bachelor’s degree but he was more than okay with that. He preferred it even, having always planned to get a Master’s in whatever field he eventually decided to go into.

He quickly found out that Berkeley had an entire section dedicated to Information Sciences called the School of Information in the Southwest part of the campus. From there it broke down into Master of Information Management and Systems (MIMS) and Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS). At first the second one sounded like the one that Professor Brunner had mentioned to him but it turned out that it had more to do with analyzing large amounts of data, not researching.

So he clicked into the Master of Information Management Systems link and started reading. Once he finished the few scant paragraphs and the introduction video on the Berkeley website, he checked out what some of his other searches had turned up. The more he looked into it, the more excited he became.

What surprised him the most was that he’d never heard about any of this before. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had always known that all this kind of work was done, but he always just assumed that people just did their own research like he did. All his life he’d been told how weird he was for constantly looking up mountains of information on every random thing that popped in to his head, he never dreamed that he could make a career out of it.

He got some pretty conflicting information on what he could expect to make salary-wise with this degree but he dug a little deeper and saw that the first numbers he’d read only took into account the people who went on to become actual librarians and not much else. From what he’d been able to glean in the first twenty minutes or so researching, there was a multitude of career opportunities to be had with this degree.

There were, of course, the obvious careers in libraries and archives but there was so much more than that. He browsed through a few and Derek pointed out a couple that looked interesting as well. Looking through a lot of the options, he branched off his original search to see what kinds the qualifications were for an internship as a magazine or textbook fact checker. He’d been finding mistakes in his textbooks since he was in elementary school and it would be a great way to get some experience before he branched out to be a freelance researcher.

After that, he went back to the Berkeley website to see the degree requirements and which courses he would need to take. He was in luck. All the Gen-Ed classes he’d taken so far were required to his degree and there were even a few of the more advanced courses that still had openings for the summer semester.

He told everyone that he was taking the summer semesters because he wanted to finish earlier, but the truth was that he was afraid that, if he spent too much time back home, he would never want to go back to Berkeley. The fact that the MIMS was only a two year degree—a lot shorter than some of the others he’d looked into—also carried a lot of weight in his decision making process.

From that train of thought, he jumped into looking up how someone actually went about becoming a freelance researcher. He was so preoccupied reading an account of one researcher who actually found a few jobs on Craigslist that he didn’t even hear his dad come in until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Luckily, Derek’s quick reflexes managed to save his laptop from smashing to the ground, when he did a total body flail in surprise.

“So much for super werewolf powers,” his dad laughed.

“Dad,” Stiles jumped up and pulled his dad into a big hug, which his dad returned just as enthusiastically.

“So reading something good?” his dad asked.

Immediately, Stiles launched into an animated explanation of everything he’d discovered about his new chosen career path, completely with sweeping hand gestures and maybe even some bouncing up and down.

His dad was just as supportive of his choice as the rest of the pack. How could he not be, since it was like this degree was tailor made just for Stiles.

They stayed up talking for a little while but eventually Peter suggested that they all head to bed because they all had to get up early.

His dad was more than ready for sleep but Stiles had never felt more awake. He was just too excited to about his new career path, on top of his excitement for the big Pack Gathering. If he slept at all in the next week it would be a miracle.

“I’ll go lie down but there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep at all tonight,” Stiles proclaimed, heading up the stairs to his room.

He was asleep less than ten minutes later.

 

 

***Derek’s POV***

The smallest sliver of the sun was just peaking over the horizon, when Derek woke up. Years of conditioning, enabled him to wake with the dawn. Focusing his hearing, he could tell that he was the first one up, as usual. Even Stiles, who had claimed that he was too excited about the Pack Gathering to rest, was sound asleep and mumbling incoherently in his room right next to Derek’s.

 _Even in his sleep he never stops talking._ Derek thought, smiling to himself.

As quietly as he could, Derek got up from his bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. Everyone else would still be asleep for a little while and he could probably get one last quick run in before he’d be stuck in a car for four hours.

Lightly padding down to the kitchen, he filled the tea kettle and put it on the stove at medium heat. It would take a little longer for the water to reach the boiling point at that heat, which would give everyone more time to sleep in before the steam whistle went off and woke them up.

Outside there was still a thick layer of dew coating the forest and it was still dark in the forest. That didn’t bother him much and he took off at a brisk pace. It felt good to have the dirt under is feet and the wind in his hair.

_This is how it’s supposed to be._

He did a quick circuit around their land and to the edge of the Preserve. He didn’t have time to do a full perimeter check, as he had done all of yesterday. Even though he knew he was just being overcautious, he was still a little uneasy about the idea of leaving their territory unguarded. After the incident with Gerard, word had spread pretty quickly. Apparently, they were the heroes of the supernatural community and a force to be reckoned with, now that they had taken out “the baddest hunter around”, Stiles’ words. Chris Argent had been more than happy to let them take the credit and have his name kept out of the entire matter.

What it all boiled down to was that they could expect their territory to be relatively peaceful, at least for a little while. Other packs and Omegas didn’t want to mess with a pack that had defeated the Legendary Gerard Argent. Hunters too, would be wary of them for the time being. Those who only knew Gerard by reputation would think twice before they attempted any kind of move against them. The other hunters, the ones who were part of his clan and knew what actually happen, were all still reeling from shock at what he had attempted. And they were too busy ferreting out dissension in their own ranks to mount any kind of revenge mission against them.

For the time being, they were safe.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the forest waking up. Birds began their morning songs, squirrels and chipmunks started scurrying about, chattering among themselves, and a deer ran quickly across his path, before darting off in the opposite direction.

He briefly considered chasing it down for his morning breakfast. It was a decent size and he would have plenty to share with the others. He could just imagine the look on Stiles face, when he dragged the doe up to the pack porch and laid it at his feet. How happy Stiles would be and how proud of him. He might even come up to Derek and—

 _No!_ Derek shook his head in frustration.

Obviously, his human brain was still mostly asleep, if he was seriously considering giving into his wolf to such an extent.

_Besides, we wouldn’t have enough time to properly cut up and store all the excess meat before we left. It would be a waste._

The sun now fully above the horizon and the rest of the back was probably awake, so he turned around and headed back towards the house.

 

He entered in the back door to the kitchen, remembering to wipe all the excess dirt and grass off his feet on the mat first. Peter and the Sheriff— _John, you’re supposed to call him John_ —were in the kitchen, when he came in. Peter was busy cooking and the Sher—John was sipping a cup of tea while reading the paper. He could hear the sounds of Laura upstairs, stomping around from room to room, doing one last check to make sure they had everything packed. That only left Stiles, who Derek assumed was in the shower that he heard running.

“So, everything quiet on the Western front?” John teased, putting down his paper.

“Nothing but squirrels and deer,” Derek replied, grabbing his own mug and taking a sip.

“Well, breakfast won’t be done for at least another ten minutes,” Peter announced. “You might as well grab a quick shower. Try and avoid Laura though, she’s in a bit of a frenzy.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Laura yelled down the stairs for John’s benefit.

“You were meant to,” Peter shot back in a normal voice.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that super hearing of yours,” John laughed. “And I don’t even want to think about all the stuff you can smell.”

“You’d be surprised what people can become accustomed to, given enough times,” Peter said.

If the Sher—John was anything like his son, this was about to turn into some kind of philosophical debate. Not that Derek couldn’t hold his own in such a conversation, but he wanted shower before breakfast.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he reached the landing just as the bathroom door opened. Standing before him, tiny rivulets of water still running down his pale skin and clad only in a towel wrapped around his slim waist, was Stiles.  Derek had to clench his fists into a tight ball and dig his nails into his palm to hold his wolf back from just tackling the younger wolf right that moment. It didn’t help that Stiles looked up at him only a second later, those dark honey colored eyes turning on him full blast.

“Hey Derek,” Stiles said, voice cracking slightly.

“Hey.”

“Did you have a good run?” Stiles asked, fidgeting from one foot to another.

“Yeah, it was good,” Derek replied.

“Good, that’s good,” Stiles said. “I should, um, go get dressed or something.”

“Right, I should hop in the shower,” Derek said. “Peter said breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.”

“Awesome, I’ll just throw on some clothes,” Stiles laughed and turned back to his room.

Derek watched him until the door of his room closed behind him. He might have stayed rooted to that spot for a few minutes longer, if he hadn’t seen Laura peeking out of her room down the hall. She smiled devilishly at him making him blush and scowl. He then headed to his own bathroom and proceeded to take a very cold shower.

 

 

Finishing his shower quickly and throwing on some clothes, he was about to head back down to the kitchen, when he realized that Stiles was still in his room. He nudged the door open to see Stiles only wearing a pair of tight, dark blue jeans that made his ass look incredible. Cursing Laura for the millionth time for buying Stiles a whole new wardrobe, he couldn’t help ogling Stiles’ ass and his gazing at the cute sprinkling of moles on his back. It had been so much easier to resist him, when his gorgeous body was hidden away under layer of baggy clothes and plaid.

He was just about to back away and go down stairs, when Stiles abruptly turned to face him.

“What do ya think, Derek,” Stiles asked, holding up a t-shirt in each hand. “Should I go with my Vintage Batman t-shirt or my Doctor Who ‘Bad Wolf’ t-shirt?”

“They’re both fine,” Derek said truthfully. And they were. Laura had seen to it that all Stiles’ shirts—graphic t-shirts included—were all tight fitting and showed off his slim, yet muscled build to perfection.

“I know, but which one would make the best impression?” Stiles asked. “I mean, Batman is classic but the Doctor Who one makes me seem like more of an intelligent nerd than just a superhero fanboy.”

“That’s assuming they know what Doctor Who is,” Derek countered.

Before Stiles became part of the pack, Derek had never even heard of Doctor Who. Now he was almost as big a fan as Stiles.

“Your right,” Stiles exclaimed, eyes going wide in horror. “What if none of them have ever even heard of Doctor Who? They wouldn’t get it at all. They might even think I’m insulting them.”

“You could always just explain it,” Derek said, as he struggled to hold back a laugh as to ridiculously adorable Stiles was being.

“First impressions are everything, _Sourwolf_ ,” Stiles glared at him, stressing the nickname for emphasis.

“Well then, you better go with the Batman one, just to be on the safe side,” Derek chuckled.

“Yeah, when in doubt, go with Batman,” Stiles agreed, pulling the shirt over his head.

Derek watched him struggle to pull the shirt down for a few seconds. He may be a werewolf, with all of a werewolf’s strength and reflexes, but he was still Stiles. Once he had his shirt on, Stiles brushed past him and headed for the stairs.

“What’re you waitin’ for, Sourwolf?” Stiles teased. “Can’t you smell that breakfast is ready?”

Derek just laughed and followed Stiles down to the kitchen.

Breakfast was served and devoured in a short order and then everyone was busy gathering all their stuff together and doing one last check to make sure they had everything.

They managed to get everything shoved into the mini-van they rented for the trip but only after they convinced Laura to let them leave the camping gear behind.

“Bryan assured me that we were staying in a cabin, so it’s not like we’re going to be roughing it in the woods,” Peter soothed her.

“Wouldn’t be much of a problem, even if we were roughing it in the woods,” Derek grumbled.

They’d thought about taking more than one car but decided that it would be better if they all drove up together and even Stiles’ Jeep wasn’t big enough for that.

They set off, with Peter driving, John in the front passenger seat, Laura in the middle seat, and Derek and Stiles in the very back. They were sitting close because part of the back seat was taken by a bag that wouldn’t fit in the trunk. They could have put the bag between them but he told himself it was just a pack thing because he hadn’t seen Stiles in so long and wanted to thoroughly scent him as part of the pack.

 _Want to scent him as **mine** before we get there, so none of the other wolves get any ideas._ A traitorous part of his mind whispers.

He’s been trying to avoid thinking about the Pack Gathering. It’s been a long time since he’d interacted with others of his kind outside his own pack and he’s still a little uneasy about it. Last time was right after his parents had died and he’d been forced to lose his virginity to a complete stranger.

The time before that was happier. It had been when he was fourteen and with all his family. It was one of his happiest memories. Everyone had been laughing and smiling and even the embarrassing moments were wonderful, when he looked back on them now.

He was just worried that it would bring up to many painful memories and he’d end up ruining it for Stiles and everyone else. And then there was the full moon. Peter and the other Alphas had arranged it so that the Gathering fell on the night of the largest full moon of the year. Astronomers called it the Perigee Moon or the Supermoon, but werewolves have known it by a different name.

That thought really brought him to a dark place.

Fortunately, he didn’t have time to brood on those thoughts for long. Even though it was a four hour drive up to the park in Oregon, Stiles was in the car and Stiles wouldn’t let him have a spare minute for the entire ride. He kept asking questions or pointing out interesting things that they passed or singing along with a song on the radio.

John had control of the radio and it turned out that the Sher-John has pretty good taste in music, mostly Classic Rock with a little Jimmy Buffett mixed in. Stiles attempts to engage them in a game of I-Spy but everyone flat-out refused. Mostly they all just talked. For the time being, he was good. He had Stiles pressed up close to his side and the van was filled with the comforting smell of pack.

 _Everything’s going to be okay._ He repeated again and again in his mind like a mantra.

They already lived pretty close to the California/Oregon border and they were making good time. After they passed into Oregon, they pulled over for a bathroom break and the John switched with Peter to drive the rest of the way.

Stiles’ excitement level was directly correlated to how close they were to their destination. He was practically vibrating with energy, when they pulled into the park grounds.

If he even noticed Derek hold him a little tighter, he didn’t say anything about it.

 

***Stiles***

Stiles felt like he was about to explode because of how excited he was. He was finally going to meet other werewolves. Living with the Hales, it was easy to imagine that they were the only werewolves in the world, but they weren’t. From what Peter had told him, there would be others here that were his age and even a few other bitten wolves. He loved his pack but they were all born wolves and sometimes they just didn’t get the way he thought. It would be awesome to talk to someone who was bitten like he was and just talk about the craziness of it all.

And there would be stories and histories. Peter promised that it was tradition for the elder wolves of the packs to pass down stories of werewolf history. Stiles was dying to know more about the myths of where werewolves originated, from a werewolf’s perspective. Getting Peter, Laura, or Derek to tell him anything about that kind of stuff was like pulling teeth.

He understood, of course, why they didn’t share those things that often. Passing down stories is a family tradition and it just reminded them of the family that they’d lost. His dad and he still had a hard time talking about his mom. So this trip would be an information gold mine for Stiles.

Then there was the other reason he was looking forward to the Pack Gathering.

It was pretty obvious that Derek was only ever going to see him as a packmate and that would be totally fine, if it weren’t for the fact that Stiles’ wolf refused to consider anyone else to be with. Every time he attempted to start a relationship or even just hook up with someone who wasn’t Derek, his wolf would go berserk. But they had all been human and maybe, just maybe, his wolf wouldn’t freak out so much if he tried to start a relationship with another werewolf. And what better way to find and another werewolf to date, than at a gathering like this.

After what seemed like hours of driving down dirt roads into the depths of the forest—though it was probably only about ten or fifteen minutes—they finally turned down a side road that lead to a quaint little cabin in a clearing.

His dad pulled the van up right alongside a dark grey Range Rover parked in front. There was a mad dash to get out of the car—okay, Stiles was the only one who was in a mad dash—to stretch their legs and meet whoever it was that was there to greet them.

A man stepped out of the driver’s side of the Ranger Rover and approached Peter with a warm smile on his face. He was shorter than Peter but stockier, though not as built as Derek. He had longish dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes.

“Bryan, it’s been too long,” Peter said, extending his hand to the other man with a smile of his own.

“Much too long,” Bryan agreed.

Out from around the other side of the Range Rover, walked the most beautiful woman Stiles had ever seen. She was clearly Native American, with smooth russet skin and waist length, straight hair that was so black it had an actual bluish sheen to it.

 _I thought hair like that only existed in comic books and cartoons._ He thought, watching her raven tresses shimmer as she approached them. _She looks like Disney’s Pocahontas come to life._

As she got closer, he could see that she also had the most amazing bone structure he had ever seen—this coming from someone who spent all their time with the Hales. She had large, liquid dark eyes and full lips that were turned up at the corners, in a smirk that would put the Mona Lisa to shame.

What made the strongest impression on Stiles wasn’t her obvious beauty, but an amazing aura of calmness that seemed to surround her. As soon as she was within a few feet of her, an incredible sense of peace and relaxation seemed to wash over him.

_Zen, that’s the word for it. Maybe she’d Buddhist and does all that meditation stuff. No, she’s Native American; they worship forest and animal spirits. Wait, that’s racists. She could be Buddhist if she wants to. She could be anything that she wants to._

So caught up in his internal debate with himself, he nearly missed that Peter was introducing him.

“…and this is Stiles, Stiles this is Bryan Clarke, Alpha of the Portland pack,” Peter finished.

Stiles’ attention snapped back to the man—the Alpha—in front of him, as he shook the man’s hand firmly.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Stiles,” Bryan said cheerfully. “All of it good.”

Stiles had learned to trust his wolf more, when it came to judging people, and his wolf like Bryan. It liked Peter more but Peter was his Alpha so that was only to be expected.

“And this is my wife Tawiyela,” Bryan announced proudly, puffing out his chest just the tiniest fraction, as he held his hand out to the beautiful Native American woman.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Tawiyela,” Peter said, and smoothly brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss with a roguish grin. Bryan just laughed, good-naturedly.

_Only Peter could get away with a move like that._

“And you as well, Peter Hale,” Tawiyela said, her husky voice was much deeper than he expected but in a very feminine way. Kind of like Lauren Bacall’s smoky voice. “I’m so happy that the Hale Pack was able to join us.”

She didn’t smell like a werewolf, but she didn’t exactly smell completely human either.

_Would it be rude to ask her what she is? Probably._

“Well, I bet you’ll want to rest for a minute and put your things away, before you meet the other,” Bryan said. “Let me show you around your little home away from home.”

Bryan, Tawiyela, Peter, and Laura made their way to the front door of the cabin, while Derek, his dad, and he opened the trunk of the van and started to grab some of their bags. When they joined the other inside, they saw that it was quite different on the inside than it was on the outside. It was very rustic looking on the outside but on the inside, it had every imaginable convenience, including three large bathrooms, a large flat screen TV, and a fully stocked kitchen. There are only three bedrooms so it was quickly decided that Peter and the Sheriff would get the one that had two medium size beds, Laura got her own room, and Derek and Stiles ended up having to share the room that only had one Queen sized bed.

He didn’t know whether to curse God or Peter for that one. It was bad enough being around Derek all the time, pretending that he didn’t want to climb him like a tree, but having to share the same bed would be sheer torture. Stiles sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn’t do anything embarrassing, like accidentally molesting Derek in his sleep.

They threw their stuff on the floor by the bed, figuring that there would be time to unpack later. Then he used the bathroom real quick, before joining the others in the cabin’s kitchen, where Bryan was explaining how he’d set everything up.

“In addition to the cabins that we’ll be staying in, we’ve also rented all the cabins in the surrounding area for five miles,” Bryan said.

“That sounds like a lot,” his dad said, a little astonished.

“It really wasn’t that many,” Bryan explained. “We’re right on the edge of where the camping and rentals officially become part of the National Park. They are specifically advertized for people seeking privacy and are spaced further apart. And we rented them all under different names and credit cards so that it wouldn’t look suspicious.”

“Still, it must have cost a pretty penny, especially with all the food three packs of werewolves will eat,” his dad argued.

“All three packs pitched in for the expenses for this weekend,” Peter said.

His dad gave Peter the same look he gives suspects he’s about to interrogate but he didn’t say anything else. Just like Stiles, his dad didn’t like the idea of taking someone else’s handouts. He had fought Peter just to pay his share of the gas money for the trip up here. But at least he wasn’t going to has it out in front everyone.

“If everyone’s done putting their things away, maybe we should go and introduce you to the others,” Tawiyela offered as a way out of the awkward situation. “I’m sure they’re all anxious to meet you. And they were beginning to prepare a late lunch, when we left. You all must be quite hungry by now.”

Stiles’ stomach growled loudly at the mention of food, lightening the mood with some laughter.

 

They all piled back into the van and followed the Range Rover a short distance down the road. The cabin they were brought to was nothing like their cabin. It wasn’t quaint or picturesque. It was the largest, most high-tech, gigantic cabin that Stiles had ever seen. It was three stories high—not including the car garage on the ground floor—with one side supported by stilts. It also had a satellite dish on the room and a Jacuzzi on the side. It was the Lord of Log Houses, the King of Cabins.

“Whoa, why couldn’t we get a cabin like that?” Stiles asked, sticking his head in-between the front seats to get a better look.

“Because there are only five of us,” Peter explained. “And there are over a dozen in Bryan’s pack.”

“Oh,” Stiles said. “So they’re probably just as crowded in there as we are.”

“I’d say so,” Laura chimed in.

They parked right next to Bryan’s Range Rover and followed him and Tawiyela up the stairs to the main floor. There were scent trails everywhere and the majority of them were werewolves. He could hear lots of talking going on inside but it quieted down as they drew closer.

Before he knew it he was standing in the middle of a room surrounded by dozens of people all looking at him and his pack. Instinctively, he moved closer to Derek and his dad.

_I’m in a room full of werewolves._

Some were in the kitchen preparing what looked like mountains of food; others had been outside on the patio but were now walking into the main room. Three elderly werewolves were sitting around a table, while all the younger ones seemed to be gathered around the television playing Call of Duty.

They were everywhere.

Even though he had known what to expect, actually being there was a little overwhelming.

He jumped a little, when he felt a hand on his lower back, but relaxed into it, when he realized it was Derek.

Just as the silence in the room was getting unbearable, a petite woman with dark curls and dark brown eyes stepped forward. She wasn’t tall but she moved with grace and authority and radiated power. There was no doubt in Stiles’ mind that she was an Alpha.

“May I present, Sophia Reyes, Alpha of the Montana Pack,” Bryan formally introduced the female Alpha to Peter.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Peter Hale,” she said sincerely. “All our kind was devastated, when we heard of your loss, but we are glad to see that your pack is still thriving.”

Derek stiffened nervously at her words but didn’t say anything.

“An honor to meet you as well, Sophia Reyes. I have heard great things about your pack,” Peter replied truthfully.

Once the formal introduction of the Alphas was over, it was like some switch had been flipped and everyone was coming forward to introduce themselves. There were handshakes and hugs and he thought that someone might have even pinched his ass. Stiles didn’t remember half the names of all the people he met in the next few minutes but at least he could who was a part of which pack by their pack scent, so it was a start.

There were a couple of people that apparently recognized Derek and Laura and quite a few comments about how much Derek looked like his mother. He was a little afraid that Derek would shut down at the mention of his parents or worse, snap out some angry retort, but he took the comments in stride. Stiles threw him an encouraging smile and was happy to see Derek give him a little nod in return.

A few minutes after that, things settled down again. Peter and Laura were whisked away to speak with the other Alphas and his dad immediately struck up a conversation with a few of the human members of the other packs. Derek and Stiles ended up in the—for lack of a better term—kids area in front of the TV. Not that Stiles minded very much, since most of why he wanted to come to this gathering in the first place was to meet other werewolves his age.

He was surprised to find that most of them looked to be about his and Derek’s ages. There were three identical triplets around Derek’s age, in outfits that would have also been identical, save that each was a different color. All three were blonde and blue eyed so Stiles decided that he was going to refer to them as the Stepford Cuckoos in his head.

Next there was a boy of about twelve with chocolate brown eyes and a chestnut hair cut into one of those haircuts that parents think is adorable but will actually get a kid teased for years. Stiles was pretty sure his name was James, or maybe Jamie.

Sitting behind the couch on a couple of bar stools that they dragged over from the bar, were a pair of twins, also around Derek’s age, with sandy hair and grayish eyes. They were a boy and a girl. The girl looked nice enough but even the boy looked nothing like Jackson, there was something about the arrogant smirk on his face that reminded him of his old high school nemesis. He was willing to bet that these two were the infamous Nancy and Norman that Laura had told him about.

On another couch was a skinny boy about his age, with blue eyes and curly blonde hair sitting next to a bombshell wearing a black skirt and some strange blue corset-like thing, who Stiles assumed was his twin sister because her hair was just as curly, only her eyes were a dark brown. She reminded him of Alpha Reyes, except her curls were blonde. Then he remembered being introduced to her husband who looked like a blonde haired, blue eyed cowboy and he figured that the two of them and the triplets must be their children.

On the other side of the blonde bombshell was a large African American boy about his age with mocha skin and soft eyes. He was also built like a tank. Or a linebacker. Or some kind of mutant tank-linebacker hybrid. Yeah, the guy was big. And if the arm he had wrapped around blonde bombshell’s waist was any indication, he was also her boyfriend. Next to him was obviously his little sister who shared her brother’s caring eyes round features. She was probably around fourteen or fifteen and had an adorable smile.

“So Batman, why don’t you take a seat,” the blonde bombshell offered, pointing to the empty couch across from her.

 He was puzzled for a half a second, before he remembered that he was wearing a Batman t-shirt.

“Don’t mind if I do, Catwoman,” Stiles countered.

“Hmmm, Catwoman. Sounds purrrrrfect,” she said rolling her r’s seductively. Her boyfriend tightened his hold on her but that only made her smile wider.

The triplets didn’t even bother to hide their interest in the two of them, as they openly leered, which only made Derek bristle and scowl. Stiles thought it was hilarious. When they sat down on the couch, Derek made sure that he in the corner seat with Stiles on his other side, so that one of the Stepford Cuckoos couldn't slip in next to him.

“So, since you’ve probably already forgotten, let me reintroduce everyone.”

Her names was Erica Reyes, daughter of Alpha Sophia Reyes and her husband Owen, and the big guy with his arm around her was indeed her boyfriend Vernon Boyd IV, though he preferred to be called Boyd.

“He may look big in scary, but inside he’s a softy,” Erica said affectionately. “Lookout though, he has a wicked sense of humor.”

 His little sister’s name was Alicia.

“And she’s just as sweet as she looks.”

Their parents were Vernon Boyd III and his wife Keriya. Boyd III had been bitten right after he and Keriya had gotten married but before they had Boyd IV. They had been taken in by the Portland pack but Keriya had turned down the bite, though Boyd and Alicia were still born werewolves.

The triplets were Erica’s older sisters Aubrey in mint green, Gemma in powder blue, and Zoë in pink. They did that creepy triplet thing where they all said hello in unison and Stiles thought that he might have to change their nickname to the Children of the Corn. Then he found out that Isaac, the boy he thought was her twin, wasn’t in fact related to her at all, but was a bitten wolf her pack had taken in. Once he really looked at him it was quite obvious that they weren’t related. Stiles made a mental note to talk to him later.

He had been right that the little boy’s name was Jamie Spenser, and he was the son of Ella Spencer, who was Alpha Sophia’s younger sister. The real twins were Nancy and Norman, just like he’d guessed, and were the children of Emily Crawford, who was Alpha Bryan’s cousin, and her husband Hugh.

Norman was a total douche, whose opening line was to comment that Derek had finally grown into his Dumbo ears. Derek just rolled his eyes, though Stiles knew him well enough to know that he was a little embarrassed.

He was shocked to find out that Nancy wasn’t actually a werewolf though her twin brother was born one.

“It happens sometimes,” Nancy shrugged. “Occasionally, two werewolves will have a human for a kid.”

It didn’t seem like she was upset about it, like that she thought it was a bad thing to be born human, so he just rolled with it.

“And then there’s Jace,” Erica said, gesturing to a boy standing off to the side.

When he looked up, Stiles wondered how he had ever missed the gorgeous guy standing there. He was good looking, that’s for sure, like Jackson and Derek level hotness. And he was built. Not as big as Derek but he definitely had some muscle definition, which was perfectly accentuated by his impeccably, chosen clothes. The guy knew how to dress. He had apple green eyes and wavy hair that Stiles refused to say was strawberry blonde because, if he did then he would be admitting the truth, that—at least as far as looks go—he was the male version of Lydia Martin.

Even Stiles’ wolf perked up a little as he looked him over.

“Guess we know which team you play for,” Erica teased with an exaggerated sniff, throwing him a wicked grin.

“Don’t really make a secret of it,” Stiles shot back, trying to reclaim some of his dignity.

“Neither do I,” Jace said in low voice with a hint of a New England accent. He gave Stiles a bright, dimpled smile that did funny things to his insides and made his face flush.

Stiles opened his mouth to respond but for once in his life he couldn’t think of what to say. Luckily, he was saved when Bryan Clarke walked to the center of the room and announced that lunch was served.

He didn’t even protest, when Derek all but dragged him in the direction of the food.

He needed a minute to process and gather his thoughts. One of the main reasons he wanted to come to the Pack Gathering was to find someone else he could start a relationship with. So, why did he feel so conflicted when someone actually showed an interest in him?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had originally planned more conversation between Stiles and the others in this chapter but I really wanted to keep up with my goal of posting a new chapter every Monday, so it was bumped to the next chapter.
> 
> All the infomation about the MISM Degree comes from the University of California, Berkeley website and from helpful information from Traykor.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, I always appreciate hearing from you either in the comments section or on my tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay with this chapter and for how short it is, but I've had to cover for another person at work for the past two week and it left me very little time to write. What time I did have, I mostly spent on writing scenes for some of the future chapters because they kept popping into my head and I had to get them down before I lost them.
> 
> Hope you guys like it!

 

 

***Derek***

He had to get Stiles away from them.

_Away from him._

Being here, around so many of their kind, was all at once exhilarating and suffocating. It felt good to be around people that he didn’t have to hide who he was from, but there was just so many of them. True, he was familiar with quite a few of the ones from the Oregon Pack but it had been almost a decade since he’d seen them.

And they were all looking at him and Stiles. Stiles was a natural with people, but Derek had never liked being the center of attention, especially the kind of attention he was getting from the blonde triplets. Not that he liked the attention Stiles was getting from them either, or Jace’s.

While it was true that werewolves didn’t really have a problem with being gay, the percentage of their population that actually was gay was pretty small. It was just his luck that another werewolf who was interested in men—interested in Stiles, because he wasn’t exactly subtle about it—just happened to be at the Pack Gathering as well. His wolf wanted to drag Stiles back to their room in their cabin and growl at anyone who came near. Since he couldn’t do that, he settled for dragging Stiles to the dining room table, when Bryan announced that lunch was ready.

The others were close behind them but he spotted Laura and pulled Stiles along towards her. Laura had missed the little scene between Stiles and Jace but she was tactful enough not to say anything and just raise an eyebrow when Derek pointedly seated Stiles between the two of them. He calmed down a little bit, once Stiles was securely surrounded by pack and away from _Jace_.

Unfortunately, that meant that the seat on Derek’s other side was free for one of the triplets—the one in blue—to slid into. He couldn’t remember if it was Zoë or Gemma, but either way he didn’t like it. She made a point of scooting her chair closer to him so that their arms were touching. He only just managed to bite back a growl.

Instead, he focused his attention on the mountains of food in front of him. There were pyramids of sandwiches and mini subs, bowls of chips, platters of chicken legs and wings, potato salad, macaroni salad, fruit salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, and bottles of soda, juice, or water. Even though they were all hungry, they politely waited for everyone to be seated at the long wooden dining room table.

Once everyone was seated, they all looked to their respective Alphas. Even though they weren’t real wolves, certain behaviors still bled over into their human sides. Acknowledging that the Alpha eats first is one of those. They didn’t have to wait until Peter was done eating, but they usually waited for him to give the signal that they could help themselves. Peter, Bryan, and Sophia all nodded. After that, it turned into a frenzy of hands gabbing for good and platters being passed down the table. Even, the triplet next to him effectively ignored him, until she had her own plate piled high with food.

Derek loaded up his own plate with a little bit of everything. He managed to snag the Doritos bowl for Stiles, before they were all gone. Stiles loved Doritos but he’d been too preoccupied with insisting that his father get a larger helping of the fruit salad to notice that they were going fast. When Stiles did notice, he thanked Derek profusely and dumped the rest of the bowl on top of all the rest of the food on his plate. For the next ten minutes or so, the only sounds to be heard were the thirtyish or so people eating and the occasional ‘can you pass the ___’.

Once the edge of hunger was taken off, conversations started to resume. Derek overheard bits and pieces of a few discussions. The Sher—John was asking a man from the Montana Pack about the idea of werewolves joining the police force with their speed, strength, and natural lie detecting abilities. Stiles was in a heated discussion of Marvel vs. DC comics and their various movies adaptations with Erica, who was seated across from him, with Boyd and Isaac occasionally joining in. Peter was discussing his progress on looking for a wolfsbane antidote with the two elder members of the Oregon Pack. Laura was deep in discussion with the triplet in green about new ways of setting up early warning systems for finding intruders on their territory, without having to set up cameras throughout the entire forest.

Down at the other end of the table, he heard Alpha Bryan talking to a human member of the Montana Pack about a few websites that sold homemade, non-scented soaps at a good price. There was another conversation going on about the merits of using white vinegar to clean, instead of bleach or other chemical-filled cleaning solutions that wrecked havoc on a werewolf’s nose.

Bryan’s wife Tawiyela was silent. She seemed to just be sitting back and absorbing everyone’s presence and exuding her own calming aura. He made a mental note to ask Peter about her later. He didn’t sense anything bad about her, the exact opposite in fact. But the very fact that he wanted to instantly trust her is what made him feel uneasy.

Then there was Norman trying—unsuccessfully—to flirt with the triplet in pink. He was just a big of a jerk as he remembered. And, of course, the first thing he had to bring up was how big his ears used to be. He silently prayed that Stiles would have enough new and exciting things to hear about that he wouldn’t go asking more about the embarrassing stories from the last Pack Gathering.

Derek managed to avoid having to speak with anyone for a solid ten minutes, focusing on his food instead, until something Stiles said grabbed his attention.

“Okay, it’s official, we should totally get married,” Stiles proposed to Erica. “You’re obviously the soulmate I’ve been searching for all my life.”

Even though he knew Stiles was kidding, he still felt the urge to growl and bare his fangs at Erica.

“I thought you said you were gay?” Isaac asked, a look of utter confusion on his face. Erica just laughed delightedly.

“I am,” Stiles said proudly. “But who said being soulmates had anything to do with sex? Haven’t you ever seen ‘Will and Grace’?”

“No,” Isaac answered truthfully.

“Oh, you poor deprived child,” Stiles shook his head in mock pity.

“A marriage of convenience then,” Erica agreed. “We can go out and have sex with whomever we want and then we get to come home and just geek out and eat junk food.”

“Exactly!” Stiles exclaimed. “It’s perfect!”

“Not quite the word I’d use,” Boyd said giving Erica a look, which only made her laugh and kiss him on the cheek. Derek wholeheartedly agreed with Boyd but refrained from saying that aloud.

“Sounds good to me, Batman, but would tall, dark, and broody have something to say about that?” Erica gave Derek an audacious look.

Derek froze and he felt Stiles do the same next to him.

“Who, Derek?” Stiles asked.

“No, the other gorgeous, broody werewolf, who’s been hovering protectively by you side all afternoon,” Erica said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Derek didn’t utter a sound, steeling himself to see how Stiles would answer.

“Um, Derek and I are…we’re just packmates, ya know,” Stiles said, and Derek dejectedly admitted to himself that Stiles was telling the truth. Stiles only thought of him as pack and nothing more.

“So, does that mean you’re single?” the triplet next to him asked in such a sugary tone that it made Derek’s teeth ache. She placed a hand his elbow and he turned to her with a glare, but she only looked up at him threw her eyelashes, in what she probably thought was a seductive manner.

“Single and gay,” Derek said curtly, hoping that would put an end to this conversation.

“Of course,” the triplet in pink over by Norman pouted. “All the good looking ones are.”

“I’m straight,” Norman snapped.

“Exactly,” all three triplets said in unison.

Norman scowled and there were quite a few giggles throughout the table. The corners of Derek’s mouth turned up slightly, even though the triplet on his arm still refused to let go of him.

“That’s a real shame,” Erica said sincerely to Derek and Stiles. “You two would make such a cute couple.”

“I think Stiles could make any couple he was a part of look good,” Jace spoke up for the first time since they all sat down. He was sitting a few seats down from Erica and looking directly at Stiles with barely disguised hunger.

“Yeah, well…I’m just that awesome,” Stiles stumbled for a reply. Derek could practically feel him blushing. “I’m so awesome; my awesomeness rubs off on everyone around me.”

Once again, Derek’s wolf was urging him to grab Stiles and run, but this time he didn’t have an excuse to retreat. He had to sit there and listen to this other wolf flirt with his Stiles.

_This is going to be a long week._

 

 

***Stiles***

 _This is going to be a long week._ Stiles thought as he tried to make himself stop blushing.

He felt like he’d fallen into an episode of the Twilight Zone. He was in a room full of werewolves, talking about comic books with a hot blonde—who may or may not be his platonic soulmate—and there was a gorgeous, werewolf guy hitting on him. This was everything that he’d been hoping for ever since Peter first mentioned the Pack Gathering.

So why did he feel so weird about it. It actually wasn’t all the other werewolves or even Erica that was bothering him. It was Jace.

He’d expected to come here, meet some other werewolves, maybe find one who was gay, get to know him a little, and then maybe talk about the idea of going on a date. That was his most optimistic projection for what would happen here. He didn’t expect to find a guy, who looked like he walked straight out of his High School fantasies, to immediately start flirting with him. He’d thought he’d have a little bit of time to get to know him and ease into a kind of light flirting. Jace was sounded like he was ready to jump on him straight out of the gate.

Stiles had been hit on like this before, but they were humans and his wolf hadn’t liked that. Actually, his wolf hadn’t liked that they weren’t Derek. Jace was another story. Stiles was definitely attracted to him, physically at least, and his wolf didn’t immediately hate him like it did with some many of the other people he’d tried to date. But he didn’t know the guy, at all. And he’d be lying if he said a small part of him wasn’t still holding out for Derek.

He hadn’t lied a few seconds ago, when he said that he and Derek were just packmates. He desperately wanted to be more than that but Derek didn’t. Outside of their shared heats, Derek had never given him any indication that he felt anything but brotherly love towards him. Derek certainly hadn’t corrected him, when he said they were just packmates. And he hadn’t lied when he told Gemma—who was still clinging to him like a spider monkey—that he was single. Obviously, he didn’t think that he and Stiles had anything going on.

So maybe he should respond a little more to Jace’s flirting. It couldn’t hurt. After all, if Jace turned out to be a real jerk, then he only had to put up with it for a few days. Who knows, maybe Jace would turn out to be a great guy and they could really hit it off.

_Maybe he could help me get over Derek._

Stiles doubted it, but at least he would try.

It was still a little disconcerting, after how ignored he’d been for most of his life, that someone that good looking could be interested in him. He needed to get away and clear his head, to come up with some sort of game plan. But it would be really rude to just get up and leave. There needed to be a change of subject, right now.

Glancing around the table, he tried to pick up a hint of another conversation he could cut in on. He was suddenly drawn to Boyd and Alicia’s parents. Boyd and Alicia took after their mother, with their rounded features. Their father had more sharp edges to his face. He actually kind of looked like Idris Elba.

“Dude! Your dad looks just like Idris Elba!” Stiles said excitedly.

“Why, because all black men look alike,” Boyd said threateningly.

“What! Dude no—that’s not—I mean,” Stiles floundered for a solid minute looking for something to say, before Boyd cracked a small smile.

“And you’re totally messing with me right now, aren’t you,” Stiles accused, pointing his finger right in Boyd’s face.

“I told you,” Erica said in a sing-song voice. “Boyd has a wicked sense of humor.”

“But you do agree with me, about your dad looking like Idris Elba, right?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah,” Boyd laughed. “He even dressed like Heimdall last Halloween.”

“That’s awesome!” Stiles exclaimed. “I tried convincing Derek to dress up as the Thor to my Loki once but he said it would look weird since he’s not blonde. We ended up going as Captain America and Iron Man instead.”

“But Captain America is blonde too,” Erica pointed out.

“I know! But he was all, like, ‘I’ll be wearing the helmet so my hair color won’t matter’ and then I said ‘if that’s the case, we could just get you Thor’s helmet and a blonde wig’ but he still wouldn’t go for it.”

“I like his Shield better,” Derek huffed.

“I don’t know,” Jace spoke up. “Mjölnir is pretty cool.”

_Gorgeous, smart, and he knows the real name of Thor’s Hammer. How is he real?_

After that, the conversation devolved to a debate on which was the best comic book/ Sci-Fi weapon.

“I’m kinda torn between Batman’s Utility Belt or the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver,” Stiles admitted.

“Isn’t saying Batman’s Utility Belt kind of cheating,” Erica pointed out. “I mean it contains a bunch of stuff and we were talking about what’s the best singular item.”

Stiles was about to replay when Alpha Bryan stood up and called for silence.

“While I’m thrilled to see our packs getting along and seeing so many new friendships blossoming, I think now would be a good moment to interrupt and discuss the particulars of this week’s gathering. Obviously, we are here to get to know one another but that doesn’t mean we haven’t planned a few friendly competitions as well.”

Stile didn’t know if all werewolves were competitive by nature, but he did know that everyone’s interest perked up at that last part.

“There will be three challenges each designed by Peter, Sophia, and myself. Some of them will test individual skill, while others require team work. All these will lead up to the full moon run at the end of the week,” Bryan continued. “Each challenge will reflect the traditional skills of a true wolf pack hunting in the wild. Tomorrow Sophia, Peter, and I will head into the forest to prepare these challenges, the first of which will take place the day after tomorrow, the second the day after that, and the third the day after that.”

“What are they going to be?” Jamie asked.

“You’re just going to have to wait and see,” Sophia gave him a gentle but teasing smile.

“So, what do we do tomorrow, while you’re setting up,” Norman asked, sulkily.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to amuse yourselves,” Bryan said indulgently.

“Considered it time to gather Intel on you opponents, before being locked in combat,” Peter said with all the melodramatic flair of a James Bond villain.

Everyone was finished eating by this point. The table was cleared in short order and a few people volunteered to do all the dishes, his dad among them. They’d used paper plates so it wasn’t that bad. Peter and most of the older wolves went out onto the patio, while the younger generation gathered in the living room to discuss the upcoming challenges. Laura joined them as in the living room, as it turned out that she wasn’t part of the planning and would be participating in the events along with Derek and Stiles.

“Tracking is going to have something to do with one of the challenges,” Stiles theorized, as he plopped down onto one of the couches. Derek quickly took the seat next to him.

“Without a doubt,” Erica agreed, sitting down on the opposite couch with Boyd and Isaac.

“It’ll probably be some kind of hide and seek type of challenge,” Jace added, moving to stand next to Stiles. “Someone will get a head start to run into the woods and the others will have to hunt them down by their scent.”

Stiles gave Jace a small smile but his attention was quickly drawn back to the conversation.

“If Peter’s helping to design the challenges, it’ll be more difficult than that,” Laura disagreed.

“Maybe they’re going to set traps,” Isaac hazarded a guess. “They are spending the whole day tomorrow setting things up.”

“That’s a great point,” Erica beamed, running her hand through his curls, like Laura always did to Stiles. Isaac blushed but didn’t pull away.

The conversation continued on in this way for a few hours as they debated what the other challenges would be and tried to guess what obstacles the three Alphas would put in their way.

The sun was nearing the horizon, when Bryan stood and gathered everyone’s attention.

“I think we can all agree to head in early tonight,” Bryan announced. “Some of us had a longer journey here than others and would probably appreciate a good night’s rest.”

“I quite agree,” Peter added.

There were a few grumbled protests, particularly from Jamie, who was adamant that he wasn’t the least bit tired. His protest was ruined by the large yawn that escaped him. Eventually, everyone agreed that they should head back to their cabins.

Erica made him promise to come over to the Reyes Pack cabin tomorrow, after they’d eaten breakfast, so that they could hang out some more. Stiles quickly agreed before running after his packmates, who were already halfway back to the minivan.

Climbing into the back of the minivan, Stiles’ head was buzzing with everything that happened today. He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice how he practically draped himself over Derek for the short ride back to the cabin.

Once they got inside, Laura and Peter headed to kitchen to make a light dinner, while his dad, Derek, and he flopped down on the couch to watch a little TV. They found a baseball game to watch. Peter and Laura soon joined them with a simple spaghetti and meat sauce dinner.

His dad was the first one to give in and go get ready for bed. Laura was next quickly followed by Peter. He and Derek held out the longest. It was still early, but it had been a long day.

After the tenth yawn, Stiles finally admitted that he was tired and got up to go to bed. With everything that had happened today, Stiles had forgotten that, not only were Derek and he sharing a room, but they were also sharing bed. Stile just stood there gazing at the bed, for a second, like it was some strange alien contraption that he’d never seen before.

 _It’s not like Derek and I have never shared a bed before._ Stiles chided himself.

Grabbing his toothbrush and some night clothes, he headed to the bathroom and internally argued with himself on what he should wear to bed. When he was a human, he always wore a shirt and sleep pants. After he became a werewolf and his natural body temperature rose a few degrees, he slept in just his boxers. But now he was sharing a bed with Derek. He pulled on a pair of soft plaid sleep pants and held a shirt in his hands. He just stared at it, as if the right answer would magically appear, if he just looked at it for long enough.

A knock on the bathroom door startled him.

“You almost done in there,” Derek’s voice sounded through the door.

“Yeah,” Stiles called back. “Be right out.”

He opened the door to find Derek in nothing but a pair of dark colored boxer.

_Derek doesn’t have a problem sharing a bed with me without a shirt so I shouldn’t worry about. Then again I think Derek would always go shirtless if he could._

_Not that I mind the view._

_No! Stop thinking like that! You don’t want him to come back in here and smell you like this._

For the millionth time, he thanked whatever benevolent god or goddess had deemed fit to bring Coach Finstock into his life. The older man’s disturbing and overly personal lectures worked better than anything Stiles had ever heard of to kill a boner. Just the thought of Finstock performing any of the already disturbing things he talked about, made his balls want to retreat back into his own body. Needless to say, by the time Derek got back into the room, Stiles’ thoughts were appropriately tamed.

Stiles was about to ask what side of the bed Derek wanted, when Derek just climbed into bed and made himself comfortable.

“What are you waiting for?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing,” he squeaked and dove onto the other side of the bed.

He scrambled under the covers, even though he knew he would be boiling in a few moments. It was just one more layer of protection. Though protection from what, he had no idea.

They laid there, awkwardly staring up at the blank ceiling. He was too keyed up and self conscious to even think about sleep. He kept worrying that he’d say or do something completely embarrassing in his sleep.

_Yeah, this is going to be a long week._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I working to get the next chapter out real soon. There will be more interaction between Stiles and Jace, as Stiles decides to give in a little to Jace's flirting. Jealous Derek shows himself a little, and the younger members of the pack decide to have a little fun.
> 
> Comments and critiques are always welcome and encouraged. Or you can follow me on tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how long this took, but the chapters just keep getting longer and longer on me. Hopefully, I can get back to my schedule of posting a new chapter every Monday. Also, I know I promised that this chapter would finally have some of the werewolf history I mentioned but I ended up having to split this chapter in two, so that won't be until the next part. It will definitely be in the next chapter because I already wrote that scene, it's just all the stuff leading up to it that I'm still working on.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy.

 

 

***Derek***

Years of conditioning his body to wake with the dawn was the only reason Derek woke that morning. That and the raging hard-on he sporting. He was embarrassed—though honestly, not really surprised—to find that he’d shifted positions in the night and was now wrapped around Stiles. From collarbone to groin, the entire front of his body was pressed against Stiles’ back, one arm pillowing Stiles’ head and the other splayed across Stiles’ flat stomach, and their legs tangled together. He was also sleepily grinding his previously mentioned erection against Stiles’ lower back.

However, what embarrassed him the most wasn’t that he was sleep-humping Stiles; it was that he woke to find himself gently nibbling on the shell of Stiles’ ear.

“Mmmm, yeah, just like that,” Stiles mumbled in his sleep.

Freezing, like a deer in the headlights, Derek waited to if Stiles would wake up, but he just made a few more sinfully delicious noises and settled back down.

“Ohh, you know how I like it,” Stiles moaned dreamily, as he snuggled back into Derek.

It took the better part of five minutes to extricate himself from Stiles without waking him, most of which was spent trying to keep his inner wolf in check. The wolf in him didn’t understand why he was denying his chosen mate this way. He was sorely tempted to just give in to that side of himself, but Stiles’ words at lunch yesterday, about how the two of them were definitely **not** a couple, floated through his mind and that cemented his resolve.

That didn’t stop him for gazing, longingly at Stiles’ sleeping form, once he finally succeeded in getting up. Lying on his side, facing away from him, Derek got an unobstructed view Stiles’ backside.

Of that long pale neck, just begging to marked. Of the graceful, wing-like shoulder blades that transitioned to the kissable ridges of his spine, like a trail for Derek’s mouth. Creamy, mole-dotted skin continued lower to the two perfect dimples at the base of Stiles’ back, right above the cleft of his firm ass cheeks. Dimples of Venus, they were called. Stiles wasn’t the only one who could use Google to look things up. And he had, after weeks of fantasizing about how perfectly his thumbs fit into them, when he held Stiles’ hips from behind.

What was more, Stiles’ plaid sleep pants had slid down while they slept, revealing a tantalizing view to Derek’s eyes. Again, Derek had to try and rein in his inner wolf, to keep from taking control and just pouncing on Stiles.

Now, he understood all those stories of Greek Gods and Goddesses kidnapping sleeping shepherds and shepherdesses from the hillside to ravage them. If any of them had ever looked even remotely close to the vision in front of him, then it was a difficult temptation to resist.

Especially with the intoxicating aroma in the room. It smelled like them, the two of them mixed together and overlaid with the heady scent of arousal. His own arousal was obvious. How could he not be turned on when he probably spent the entire night rubbing up against Stiles’ body? He’s lucky he didn’t cum all over the both of them in his sleep.

His wolf growled hungrily at that mental image.

Again it tried to urge him to climb back into the bed and claim Stiles, scenting the other’s wolf’s arousal.

 _But I can’t._ Derek argued with himself. _That’s not arousal for me, it’s just him morning wood. And, even if it was for me, that doesn’t mean anything. Stiles might find me attractive but he doesn’t want to be with me._

Needing to get out of the room to gather his control, he retreated to the bathroom. He was still painfully hard and the scent of Stiles clinging to his skin wasn’t helping. A shower would help.

 

The shower did help clear his head a little. Just enough, so that he could get his wolf under enough control to go into the room and get a change of clothes without pouncing on Stiles. Getting dressed while Stiles continued to sleep, he chose a forest green V-neck shirt and a pair of jeans. The shirt was a much lighter color than what he normally wore but Laura and Stiles were always on him about adding more variety to his wardrobe.

The fact that Stiles had told him that this shirt brought out his eyes had nothing to do with it.

After that, he decided the safest—and furthest—place would be the kitchen. Everyone else was still asleep and probably would be for a while. He debated on whether he should go for a run or start breakfast. Breakfast won.

Since there was no hurry and they were on vacation, he decided get a little fancy with breakfast. Normally, everyone was in too much of a hurry or just too hungry to really do anything elaborate for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon or sausage was their regular, with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on the weekends.

Today Derek wanted to try something a little different. He was no gourmet cook but he wasn’t terrible either. His father had been the cook of the family, back before the fire, and some of Derek’s favorite memories were of when he would teach him and Laura how to make Sunday brunch.

It was a little strange to realize that thinking about his dad didn’t bring up the usual feelings of guilt and loss. They’d only been here for less than a day but he could already feel changes in all of them. They didn’t have to hide here or be careful about what they said. They could relax and let their guard down. Peter and Laura were more at ease. Even the Sher—John was more laid back. Back home, with just the four of them, it was no doubt easier for him to imagine being a werewolf was more of a curse than anything else. Here it was impossible to think of being a werewolf as anything other than a gift.

Stiles was, of course, ecstatic about having so many new people he could talk to and Derek was happy for that. Though he hated to admit it, he’d always disliked it when Stiles talked about his friends. They all sounded like nice people, but all Derek could think about is how they could hurt Stiles, if they found out what he was, or worse, take him away. He didn’t have to worry about that here.

And then there was the fact that somehow it was easier to remember things here. Back home, whenever he tried to think of the past, it was always tainted by memories of the fire. He could never think about the good times without inevitably bringing up flashbacks of that horrible night. Yet here he found himself wanting to remember those good times, wanting to _talk_ about them even. It had been too long, since he’d reminisced about other family vacations or sat down and heard the old family legends.

He was still wary of Jace and the triplets but he thought that some of the others weren’t too bad. It might not have seemed like it on the outside but, aside from wanting to keep Jace as far away from Stiles as possible, he was looking forward to seeing the others.

He didn’t know if it was because they were all safe among those of their kind or if it was because there were people here who knew his parents from before. Maybe it was because there was such a celebratory atmosphere here or because Stiles’ excitement was contagious. He didn’t know.

But…he liked it.

Bringing his focus back to the task at hand, he started rummaging through the cabinets pulling out things he would need. The Portland Pack had really gone all out, when they supplied the cabin. There was more food and cooking utensils than they had back home. He took out a few bowls, a whisk, some measuring cups, flower, and a few other cooking basics, and then he moved on to the refrigerator.

The refrigerator was just as well stocked at the cabinets. He pulled out some eggs, some shredded cheeses, a package of bacon, a couple packages of sausage, and some vegetables. There were also a few containers of fresh picked blueberries. The real kind too, not those artificially enlarge kind they sell at most grocery stores. They were small but flavorful and they would taste great in pancakes.

 _Or waffles._ He thought when he spied a waffle iron resting on the counter.

It had been years since Derek had waffles. They had been one of his dad’s specialties and Derek still remembered his dad’s secret waffle batter recipe. There was a slight twinge of pain, when he remembered that waffles were what his father was going to make that morning, if the fire hadn’t happened, but he easily pushed that thought aside. Resolutely, he turned on the waffle iron to start heating it up. Then he put the bacon and sausages on a skillet and got them started.

Searching the cabinets again, he was rewarded with a jug of maple syrup. Not that fake molasses garbage they sell in supermarkets. No, this was the good stuff, 100% pure maple syrup. The kind that’s made from about thirty or forty gallons of maple sap boiled down to just one gallon of maple syrup. This was liquid gold, as far as Derek was concerned.

Looking at the rest of the breakfast ingredients on the counter, he decided to get really fancy and make mini breakfast soufflés. Checking the refrigerator, he found a tube of crescent rolls and got to work. After he had the mini soufflés in the oven and cooking, all that was left to do was mix up the waffle batter. It went even quicker than he thought, and he was surprised by just how well he remembered his dad’s recipe. Of course, the true test would come when everyone sat down to eat them, but he was confident that they would turn out well.

 

 

John stumbled into the kitchen, just as Derek was pouring the last of the batter onto the waffle iron. There were several large stacks of finished waffles sitting next to the cooling breakfast soufflés on the counter.

“That smells heavenly,” John enthused, giving Derek a sleepy smile.

“It’s almost ready,” Derek replied. “Just waiting for the others.”

“Wait no more then,” Peter declared as he joined John at the table. Laura was right behind him but she made her way to the refrigerator and took out the milk and orange juice to set on the table.

“Looks like Stiles is the only one holding us up,” Laura observed.

“Well, if he doesn’t get out here soon, I’ll go in there and drag him out myself,” John said vehemently.

As if on que, Stiles emerged from the bedroom. Derek couldn’t help the laughter that burst out of him. Stiles stumbled out the room still half asleep, with his nose suck up in the air. He looked like one of those old cartoons, where the cartoon character smells the scent of a pie cooling off on a window sill and magically levitates on the scent trail toward the source of the delicious aroma.

_At least he put on a shirt before coming out of the room._

He wasn’t the only one laughing either. Everyone found it as funny as he did, even John was chuckling fondly. Hearing everyone’s laughter, Stiles jolted awake. An adorable blush rose up in his cheeks and Derek had to resist the urge to coo at him.

“Morning,” Stiles greeted sheepishly. “Something smells fantastic!”

“Derek made breakfast,” Laura announced happily, as she carried some cups and plates to the table.

“Derek can cook!?!” Stiles asked astonished.

“Obviously,” Derek scowled at him, but there was no force behind it. He was in too good of a mood to let anything bother him this morning.

“It’s just, you’ve never cooked before.”

Luckily, he was saved from having to answer by the waffle timer going off. He pulled the last waffle out and picked up two of the plates. Stiles immediately went and grabbed the last plate of waffles and the soufflés and followed him to the table. Once they were seated, they started dividing up the food.

Almost immediately, Stiles started to protest how many waffles John took and how much butter and syrup he put on them.

“Do you know how bad that much butter is for your heart?” Stiles protested.

“Son, I’m on vacation,” John retorted.

“But—”

“It’s okay, Stiles,” Derek soothed. “I made his soufflés with egg-whites and didn’t add any bacon or sausage.”

He basked in the glow of Stiles’ approving smile for about a second, before…

“Not you too, Derek,” the Sheriff accused, pointing his fork at Derek menacingly.

“I put some ham in them,” he added helplessly.

John just gave him a hard look and nodded once. To the side, Peter and Laura were trying and failing to hold in their laughter at the situation.

 _Traitors!_ He thought, shooting them a glare.

They all finally settled down and dug into their food. For the next ten minutes or so the only sounds at the table were of utensils scratching against plates and appreciative sounds of enjoyment. The soufflés came out really well but the waffles were even better than he could have hoped.

“These are delicious Der,” Laura sighed. “Is this dad’s recipe?”

“Yeah, I, uh,” he stammered. “I just saw the waffle iron and thought…I thought I would see if I could remember dad’s old recipe.”

“Well, they turned out perfectly,” Peter hummed his approval. “They’re exactly like I remember them.”

“So, your dad was a pretty good cook,” Stiles inquired.

“He was a great cook!” Derek corrected. “He probably could have been a professional chef.”

“Dad was a good cook,” Laura concurred. “But mom was the Queen of Desserts. When it came to cakes or cookies or anything sweet or chocolaty, mom was the best.”

He was soon caught up in telling Stiles all about the elaborate, custom-made treats him mother used to make for every major holiday. They told Stiles about how they used to make their own ice cream and about the amazingly decorated birthday cakes.

“And then there was the special chocolate coated spoons she made specially to eat desserts with,” Derek remembered fondly.

“I just finished breakfast and you’ve already got me thinking about dessert with all this talk about cakes and ice cream,” John laughed. “I’m gonna change the subject, before we all start raiding the freezer. So, what’s the game plan for today?”

“I, unfortunately, must leave soon to assisted Bryan and Sophia in preparing for the first event tomorrow,” Peter explained. “It’s likely going to take up most of the day, so I’m afraid you’re on your own.”

“Any hints you can give us?” Stiles urged, giving Peter an innocent look.

“You’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow,” Peter smirked.

“You’re no fair,” Stiles pouted. “How do you know the other Alphas aren’t giving their packs hints? It could be like the Triwizard Tournament and all the other Headmasters are giving their champions clues except for us.”

“Then you’ll just have to find a Hagrid to sneak you into the Forbidden Forest,” Peter winked.

“I want to be mad at you but you’re making it difficult by understanding all by references,” Stiles said with a playful scowl.

“It wouldn’t be fair if he did give you a hint,” Laura added haughtily. “Besides, we should be more than capable of handling anything they can throw at us.”

“Translation; she doesn’t know anything either,” Derek teased. “Being Alpha Heir isn’t quite the Alpha. You’re stuck in the dark with the rest of us.”

Laura stuck her tongue out at him, much to Stiles’ delight.

“Yeah, cause that’s the way to show how mature and Alpha-like you are,” Stiles laughed.

“If you _children_ are done squabbling, I think we should clean up,” Peter suggested. “Since Derek was kind enough to cook this morning, I think Stiles and Laura should do the dishes.”

There weren’t that many dishes, since he was a clean-as-you-go type of cook. Mostly it was just the plates and glasses they’d used, so he didn’t feel too bad that they got stuck with dish duty.

After the dishes were done, everyone busied themselves with getting ready. He was glad he’d already taken a shower, because there definitely wouldn’t have been any hot water left for him. Once everyone was showered and dressed, they piled into the van and drove over to the Portland Pack cabin, where they dropped off Peter. Bryan and Sophia were already waiting outside for them. Before the three of them disappeared into the woods, Sophia let them know that everyone else was waiting for them over at the Montana Pack cabin near the lake and gave them directions. A few minutes later they were pulling up next to another cabin that was just as impressive as the Portland Pack’s. Everyone was outside either sitting around talking or passing around a football.

“It’s about time you losers showed up,” Erica hollered playfully as they pulled up. “I was about to light up the Bat-Signal.”

“We’re on vacation, Catwoman,” Stiles laughed and shouted back. “I’m pretty sure there’s a law somewhere that says you’re required to sleep in, when you’re on vacation. And I’m a Sheriff’s son; I can’t go around breaking laws like that.”

“Could have fooled me,” John chuckled before going to speak with some of the older members of the other packs.

“At least tell me you’ve already eaten,” Erica groused.

“Oh yeah, we did!” Stiles replied enthusiastically, making Derek smile. “Derek made us a veritable breakfast feast!”

“Tall, dark, and handsome and he cooks,” Erica said, giving him a sly look. “Why exactly aren’t you dating him again?”

Derek felt the tips of his ears start to heat up. He really had just felt like cooking this morning. If Stiles happened to like his cooking and thought it was a good quality in a mate, then that was just an added bonus. But did Erica really have to keep bring up the fact that he and Stiles weren’t together?

“Enough flirting Reyes,” Norman commanded as he walked up to join them, earning him a dangerous look from not just Erica, but also from Boyd, Isaac, and the triplets sitting a little ways away. “We agreed that we’d wait until they got here to decide what to do and now they’re here.”

He came up beside them just as he finished speaking. Looking over at Derek, his cocky smirk immediately turned down into a frown.

Up until now, whenever Norman and he had meet, one or both of them had been sitting down, so they hadn’t been able to properly size each other up. Now, standing face to face, it was easy to see who had grown the most. Gone was the awkward, big-eared beanstalk Norman used to push around. Now, he was a good three or four inches taller than Norman and easily twice his size in muscle mass. Derek couldn’t help the gleeful, thrill that ran through him at knowing that he’d outgrown his childhood rival, especially when Norman puffed out his chest and tried to stand taller.

“What did you have in mind,” Laura grinned.

“We could go for a swim,” Isaac suggested.

“It’s too early,” Norman said dismissively. “We can go swimming later, when it gets hot out.”

“Well, going into the forest is out,” Derek said. “We’ve been officially banned from entering until the first challenge tomorrow.”

“Alpha Hale said we should treat today as a chance to learn each other’s strengths,” Nancy said, walking up next to her brother. “Why don’t we have our own mini-competition?”

“We already have a football,” Boyd called out. “We could clear out the area to the side of the cabin and set up some end zones.”

“Perfect! We can play pack against pack,” Norman agreed. “That way we can really test each other’s skills.”

“There are three packs here genius,” one of the triplets—Derek was fairly certain it was Zoë—pointed out. “And our numbers aren’t exactly even. We’ll have to split into two teams.”

“Fine,” Norman huffed petulantly. “I’ll be captain of one team and—”

“Who died and made you Alpha?” Erica cut in, stealing the words right out Derek’s head.

“I’m the oldest,” Norman stated haughtily.

“Age is no guarantee of anything,” Erica said, and Derek couldn’t help but notice the edge in her voice, when she said it.

“Oh, just let him be one of the captains,” Jace from the lawn chair he was watching everything from. “He’s just going to whine and sulk until we give in.”

_All the more reason not to give in to him._

“Fine,” Erica conceded. “But who’s going to be the other team captain?”

“If no one has any objections, I’d like to volunteer,” Laura offered.

“Sounds good to me,” Nancy said, cutting off whatever her brother had been about to say.

Derek just glared at him, daring him to say anything against his sister. There were a few nods and the matter was settled.

“How are we splitting up?” Stiles questioned. “Are we picking names out of a hat or are we choosing our own allegiances World of Warcraft style?”

“The team captains choose,” Norman announced. “I go first.”

“Okay Veruca,” Stiles joked.

“Can I play too?” Jamie asked shyly.

“Of course you can,” Laura answered, overriding Norman’s squawk of protest. “Now let’s start.”

“I choose Nancy,” Norman declared.

Derek thought about protesting, a human in a game full of werewolves could be dangerous, but Nancy had grown up in a family full of werewolves. Also, if she didn’t want to play, she could always just walk away.

“Derek,” Laura chose, not that there had been any doubt he would be her first choice.

“Boyd”

“Stiles”

“Jace”

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. He knew his sister wouldn’t have chosen that wannabe Romeo for his sake, but there was always the chance that they could have ended up stuck with him anyways. Now, he was safely on the other team.

“Erica,” Laura said and the blonde sauntered over to stand near Stiles.

“Isaac”

“Alicia”

“Aubrey”

“We play together,” the triplets announced in unison.

“What!” several people shouted.

“We’re supposed to be testing our skills,” Gemma (?) said.

“We work as a team,” Aubrey (?) explained.

“And we can’t show that, if we’re on opposing teams,” Zoë (?) continued.

“Okay, then I get the triplets and you can have Jamie,” Norman announced smugly.

“I have no problem having Jamie on my team,” Laura said. “But that gives you two extra players; two of them have to come over to our side.”

“Dibs on Boyd,” Erica purred.

“No way,” Norman argued. “The teams are divided up. We’d have to start all over if we wanted to even it out.”

“So,” Erica stated. “It’s not like we’re on some kind of time limit. We have all day.”

“We already decided,” Norman said and Derek thought he looked like he was seconds away from stamping his foot like a five-year-old. “Now quit whining and let’s play.”

“Dude, come on, that’s the only way to make it fair,” Stiles protested.

“Life isn’t always fair,” Norman sneered. “Sometimes, you’re at a disadvantage and you have to deal with it.”

That sparked several growls and suddenly there were glowing eyes everywhere. Derek immediately took a step forward to stand at his sister’s side. Things might have escalated into a full scale brawl, if it weren’t for a sharp whistle off to the right.

Two of the elder werewolves approached them. One was Kyle Clarke, Alpha Bryan’s younger brother and Norman’s second cousin. He was older than Derek and Laura but not by too much. The other one startled Derek for a second because he thought that it was Alpha Sophia. Once she drew closer and he caught a whiff of her scent, he realized that it was Ella, Alpha Sophia’s identical twin sister and Jamie’s mother.

“Perhaps we can be help balance things out,” Kyle offered. “I could use some exercise.”

“I wouldn’t mind a friendly game either, so long as you don’t have any problems with me playing,” Ella said as she stroked her son’s head.

“I don’t mind,” Jamie said excitedly. “You can be on our team!”

“But that’s not fair, Uncle Kyle,” Norman whined. “You’re older and stronger.”

“Weren’t you just explaining how life wasn’t fair and you have to deal with disadvantages,” Kyle taunted.

“This is completely different,” Norman complained.

Derek had to physically bite his tongue to keep from saying something that would probably start a fight. Stiles just smirked and rolled his eyes.

“Reminds me of Jackson,” Stiles said softly enough for only Derek to hear.

“Buck up,” Kyle admonished, gripping Norman’s shoulder. “You’re supposed to be representing our pack. Now, pull yourself together and let’s get this game started.”

That seemed to settle the matter and everyone broke apart to set up the field. He watched Stiles head off to help move lawn chairs. He was about to join Boyd in setting up the end zones, when he noticed Jace watching Stiles with a predatory look. He probably would have stalked over toward Stiles as well, if Derek hadn’t switched course and jogged up to help with the lawn chairs. Seeing Derek, Jace backed off and went in another direction.

_That’s right. Keep walking._

Derek made a mental vow to stay by Stiles’ side.

 

 

***Stiles***

There was a rush of activity, as everyone set about clearing space for the game. Lawn chairs and picnic tables were moved and any large rocks or twigs were cleared away. Two end zones were established and the rules were laid down. No claws or fangs were allowed and no dog piles—especially not on top of Nancy—but, other than that those few guidelines, it a free-for-all. After all, this was supposed to be an opportunity to see what everyone was made of.

Stiles was a little concerned for Nancy and Jamie but neither of them voiced any complaint about anything. Jamie might have just been acting tough in front of the others but Nancy was old enough and smart enough to know her limitations. Plus, she’d grown up in a werewolf pack so she no doubt did this sort of thing all the time. Also, I seemed like everyone here had good enough control over their abilities to not injure anyone else.

As for Jamie, he was a werewolf and could heal quickly. That didn’t mean anyone would go out of his way to try and hurt the boy. After all, his mother was playing with them as well. You would have to be pretty stupid to mess with a kid in front of their mother but to mess with a kid in front of their werewolf mother was downright suicidal. She would be more than capable of keeping an eye out for her son.

For all that they had agreed to a free-for-all, everyone was fairly cautious at first. Everyone was trying to gage everyone else’s strengths and weaknesses. That caution didn’t last long. Soon everyone was out for blood, metaphorically speaking.

Now he understood why the triplets had insisted on being on the same team. Together they were like a force of nature. All three of them were agile and graceful but it was the way they perfectly coordinated together that was really impressive. He might have been more accurate than he realized when he compared them to the Stepford Cuckoos from the X-Men. They seemed to have an almost telepathic understanding of what each of the other were doing, without saying it out loud or signaling each other in any way Stiles could perceive.

Boyd was just as strong as Stiles thought he would be. Fortunately, Stiles was faster, which was good because it saved him quite a few time from being crushed by tackles that would have undoubtedly broken every bone in his body. Boyd even knocked Derek down a few times and that is no mean feat.

He was truly impressed with how good Nancy was. She may have been human, but she was no pushover. She would have been the star of any high school sports team and he wondered if she had some kind of sports scholarship. What was really amazing about her was her ability to disguise her movements. Werewolves are excellent a reading body language and most people, whether they realize it or not, tend to broadcast their movements well before they make them. When he watched sports on TV with his dad, Stiles was able to tell, well in advance, what play a team was going to run just by the way they were standing. But, somehow, Nancy had trained her body to give not give away any of those clues.

Her brother’s was the complete opposite of her. Stiles could see his next movements coming a mile away. Norman seemed to have some formal sports training—maybe he played in high school—and he kept trying to play like an actual football game. He got pissed whenever someone did something that was “against the rules” and kept yelling about people performing an “illegal move.” Everyone pretty much ignored him.

Alicia was even faster than he was and Stiles liked to pride himself on his speed. She was like a dark blur zipping up and down the field, snatching a pass from right in front of someone and then running it down the field, before they even had time to realize what had happened.

Erica didn’t seem to care about scoring goals so much as taking on anyone in her path. Stiles was man enough to admit that he found her a little terrifying, though Boyd didn’t seem to have a problem with it, judging from the heavy scent of arousal wafting off of him every time she knocked someone into the dirt.

Isaac wasn’t nearly as aggressive as most of the other players but he had good reflexes and tended to stick near the triplets to serve as their backup.

Kyle Clarke was probably a much better player than he let on but he seemed content to hang back and make sure everyone was playing somewhat safely. He mostly assisted with other people’s plays.

Jace was a little bit more aloof. He tended to cautiously skirt around the edge of the action, only darting in, when he saw a clear opening.

 

 

It wasn’t until their team scored his third goal that they realized they’d drawn a crowd. All the other member of the other two packs, as well as his dad, had lined up their chairs or stood on the sidelines to watch. With the added encouragement of a cheering audience, things really started to heat up.

Hours passed and the game became even more competitive. While each team was—in theory—working together, they seemed to have somehow split into mini-teams within each side.

It became Erica and Ella’s pattern to pass the ball to Jamie and then tag team anyone in the boy’s way, so that he could score the goal. It was pretty effective too. Erica and Ella formed an incredibly fearsome duo that Stiles would definitely think twice about, before taking them on. Jamie was pretty good as well. He hadn’t hit his growth spurt yet and was still relatively small. Rather than trying to act like he was taller, Jamie used his small stature to his advantage, dodging and weaving in and around the other team. Stiles was particularly impressed, when the boy had the ball and actually ducked under Norman—diving right through the taller man’s legs—to score a touchdown on the other side.

The triplets of course worked together and even scored two goals in a row. Boyd and Isaac formed a partnership with Isaac taking the ball up the field, while Boyd cleared a path. Alicia and Kyle formed a similar arrangement. The only ones not forming into groups were Norman, who was still trying to at shout everyone to follow his orders, and Jace, who still kept to himself along the sidelines.

Derek and Stiles were, of course, their own little team, with occasional help from Laura. Stiles found it comforting to know that Derek was always by his side or at his back for the entire game.

With all the various smaller factions essentially working on their own, it became a little hectic. Laura just rolled with it, allowing everyone to make decisions based on their own judgment. Only occasionally would she call out an order to let someone know who to pass the ball to or for someone to block someone else on the other team. Norman, on the other hand, kept yelling orders like a dictator. Clearly, he had played football in high school because he kept yelling a various football terms that his teammates either didn’t understand or were outright ignoring. Stiles’ would put his money on the latter.

 

 

Stiles was having a blast and it seemed like everyone else—with the exception of Norman—was as well. Derek was actually smiling and he even joked a little with Boyd.

“Good hustle, son,” his dad shouted, after Stiles had scored a touchdown. He was smiling and proudly from the sidelines.

That made Stiles feel about a million feet tall. He was thrilled that his dad could be here for this, to see him, like he was just an ordinary kid having fun with friends.  He’d always felt bad that he had to quit the lacrosse team, not just because he really liked lacrosse, but because his dad never got to see him play. When he quit the team, his dad had missed out on just as much as he had. His dad never got to sit in the stands and cheer him on with all the other parents. Never got to brag about all the goals his son had scored to anyone who would listen. While this wasn’t quite the same, it was close.

Bringing his focus back to the field, he noticed Isaac watching him. Watching his interaction with his dad to be more specific. Isaac quickly looked away but Stiles thought he caught a look in his eye. Envy and maybe a little bit of longing.

Once again, Stiles wondered what had happened to Isaac’s family. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good. He’d seen the way Isaac was smiling and open around women and yet always seemed to shy away from his dad and other men, especially Peter and Bryan.

_The Alpha males. The strong ones. The ones in charge._

Stiles didn’t have any proof but he had a feeling that Isaac’s dad hadn’t been a nice guy.

He didn’t have too much time to dwell on that thought, as the next round was starting up. They were tied at nine points each; the next point would determine the winning side. Since his team had scored last, they started with the ball. As soon as the ball started moving, the field burst into pandemonium.

He had no time to think as Laura pressed the ball into his hands and pushed him in the direction of the end zone. Zigzagging back and forth between friend and foe alike, he maneuvered his way out of the initial mass of chaos and made a break for it. Derek was right behind him. Norman tried to come up on his left, causing him to swerve to the right, but Laura knocked him to the ground. One of the triplets got him in front of him but was speedily dispatched by Erica. Blocked on both sides, he ended up having to jump over the both of them to keep his momentum.

Two thirds of the way to the end zone, Derek was taken out by Boyd, in a brutal tackle. His first instinct was to stop and help him but Laura was shouting at him to keep going. His wolf wasn’t too happy about that and he had to remind himself that it was just a game. He consoled himself with the thought that he could immediately double back, after he scored.

Nearly at the end zone, he noticed someone gaining on him, out of the corner of his eye. Not wanting to risk his team losing, he quickly scanned the field and saw that Alicia was open. Whipping the ball to her, he veered off course but noticed that the person pursuing him was still coming and swiftly closing the distance between them. Turning his head, he had just enough time to see Jace launching through the air at him. Before he could maneuver out of the way, Jace had him pinned to the ground.

Seconds after that, a huge cheer went up as Alicia scored a touchdown. His teammates were all exclaiming their victory, while Norman was yelling about a rematch. Jace was still holding Stiles down on the ground.

“Um, Jace,” Stiles said. “You can let me up now. The game’s over.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jace said seductively. “I’ve been trying to get you alone since I first spotted you, yesterday. Besides, I’m quite comfortable where I am.”

Jace ground his hips down into him, so Stiles could feel just how comfortable he was. Blood rushed to his face and his eyes widened. Stiles would have been lying if he said he wasn’t flatter and at least a little turned on. Then again, he did sort of have a thing for being chased and held down. At least, he’d liked it when Derek had done it their first time together. He wasn’t revolted by the situation he was in now but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it either. Not just the fact that he barely knew Jace, but they were also out in the open in front of everyone—including his dad! As far as Stiles knew, he didn’t really have an exhibitionist kink.

“Much as I might like the direction you’re headed, were totally in the open and my dad is right over there, and everyone’s going to be celebrating, and my dad’s just over there, and we’re probably going to have food soon, and did I mention that _my dad is right over there_ ,” Stiles babbled anxiously.

“You’re cute, when you’re nervous,” Jace purred. “If you want me to get off of you, all you have to do is say, ‘please’.”

Stiles’ throat was suddenly as dry as the Sahara Desert. Those sharp apple green eyes bored into him expectantly. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He wanted to say something but his brain was overloaded with a combination of arousal and embarrassment.

A feral snarl was the only warning he got, before Derek barreled into Jace, knocking him a good six feet away. In a flash, Jace was back up on his feet, eyes flashing and claws out. An angry snarl marred his chiseled features. Stiles clumsily got to his feet, but was immediately blocked by Derek’s hulking form.

“What’s going on over here?” Laura demanded.

 _That’s what I’d like to know._ He thought angrily.

“He attacked Stiles and then refused to let him go,” Derek hissed through his fangs.

“That’s not—”

“It was in the middle of a game,” Jace cut him off. “I tackled Stiles and then we were just having a friendly chat.”

“On the ground?” Laura questioned with a raised eyebrow and Stiles could feel himself blushing again.

“He didn’t even have the ball, when you tackled him,” Derek spat.

“It doesn’t matter, just let it go,” Stiles hissed.

Derek growled again. Normally, that protective edge would send shivers down Stiles’ spine, but today it just annoyed him to no end. They were among friends and, even if they weren’t, he was more than capable of defending himself. He’s certain he could have gotten out of Jace’s grip, if he’d really tried. He wasn’t some delicate flower.

“It’s fine!” Stiles declared, grabbing Derek’s arm and pulling with little effect. “We were just talking and now we should all celebrate our win.”

“Everything okay over here,” Kyle inquired. Instantly, Jace’s eyes returned to normal and he retracted his claws. In the space of a few seconds, he was once again the charming and polite young werewolf Stiles had met yesterday.

“Everything is fine,” Stiles repeated, pulling Derek’s arm again, this time a little harder. “Just a misunderstanding.”

“Someone’s misunderstanding something all right,” Erica smirked.

Stiles would questioned what she meant by that, if he wasn’t too busy trying to get Derek to calm down. He was still too tense, still too much in attack mode. And Stiles didn’t doubt for a second who the victor would be. If Derek and Jace fought, Derek would tear him apart.

He didn’t want to ruin this week and have everyone sent home, because of something silly like this.

“I think we’ve just had a lot of excitement today,” Tawiyela’s smoky voice resonated, calmingly through them all. Stiles hadn’t even heard her approach. Nor had anyone else, judging by the way everyone flinched in surprise. Even Derek stopped glaring at Jace to give her a startled look. “Everyone’s emotions are running high from the game. Now is a good time for a bit of rest and some food to settle everyone’s tempers. I believe lunch is almost prepared.”

Like magic, someone up at the cabin called out that the food was ready, just as she finished speaking.

At the mention of food, almost everyone stampeded toward the cabin. Derek grabbed Stiles’ arm and dragged him after everyone else. He would have complained but he was just happy that Derek wasn’t wolfed out any more.

Erica was giving him a look he didn’t understand. When he gave her a questioning look, she just sighed in frustration and marched off. Boyd shook his head as if to say ‘you can’t be _that_ stupid’ and took off after her.

He still flustered, agitated, and a little bit turned on. On top of all that, he had the feeling that he was missing something. Something obvious that everyone else around him was in on but they weren’t telling him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Next chapter will have a little more interaction between Stiles and Isaac as well as the beginning of the werewolf history I promised. 
> 
> Comments and critiques are always appreciated or you can follow me on tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com
> 
> Also, I'm going to be taking part in this year's Wolf Pack Charity Project run by the Sterek Campaign. If you don't know what that is, it's a charity auction to raise money for Wolf Haven International. You can find out more about it on the Sterek Campain official website or their tumblr page.
> 
> For my part I will be volunteering my writing skills. I'm offering two commisions, one of 5k words and one of 10k words for you guys to bid on. So, that means you guys could ask me to write pretty much whatever you want and have the satisfaction of helping a great cause to save these beautiful wolves. The author's auction will take place from November 8th-11th, 2013. Again, check out their website to find out more. Also feel free message me on tumblr if you have any questions about the commisions :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made my deadline!!! I'm so happy I managed to finish this chapter in time to post it today! I really like how this chapter came out and I hope you guys like it too.

 

 

***Stiles***

Lunch was interesting, to say the least.

As soon as they reached the cabin, Derek had immediately dragged him to one end of the long dining room table and glared daggers at Jace, until the redhead sat down at the opposite end. Stiles was more okay with putting some distance between him and Jace than he cared to admit, but that did nothing to mitigate his annoyance at Derek for the brutish way he was acting.

His wolf on the other hand was downright preening at all the attention he was receiving. Though he still wasn’t the best at deciphering what his wolf was trying to tell him, he at least understood that his wolf seemed to think that Derek was competing for his attention.

_Yeah, no that’s not what’s happening. Derek’s just being overprotective, like he was around anyone outside their pack._

_But he’s not acting that way around anyone else but Jace._ A traitorous voice in his head whispered.

Stiles shook his head, trying to banish the thought. Instead he tried to focus on the conversations around him.

Norman was alternately proclaiming that his team hadn’t lost because the other team had cheated and loudly demanding a rematch. Everyone was, of course, ignoring him. Erica and Boyd were sitting huddled together and talking in hushed tones. Laura was talking with the triplets about how well they worked together during the game and what kind of training they didn’t to be that well coordinated with each other. Everyone else was in conversations of their own.

His dad was currently deeply engrossed in a conversation with Boyd’s mother, Keriya. Apparently they were swapping stories about having werewolf children. At least Keriya was telling stories about raising her werewolf children; his dad was comparing them to stories of having to deal with Stiles’ ADHD. Thankfully, his dad hadn’t seen the little drama outside and was oblivious to Derek’s continued hostility towards Jace.

Since he had decided to give Derek the silent treatment for being such a caveman and he was horrible at staying silent, he looked around for someone else to talk to. He briefly considered trying to yell down to Jace at the other end of the table, just to rile Derek up, but thought better of it. Looking around, his eyes settled on Isaac, who was sitting across from him. It was odd seeing him without Erica or one of the triplets at his side. It was even odder to realize that he’d been sitting across from him the entire time. Despite his striking, angelic features, Isaac had a knack for blending into the background.

“So Isaac, help me out with something,” Stiles said.

Isaac jolted a little and nearly dropped the sandwich in his hands. He just stared at Stiles like a deer in the headlights.

“Um, okay,” Isaac agreed uncertainly, putting his sandwich down.

“Becoming a werewolf,” he elaborated. “It’s weird, right?”

Isaac continued to look at him, like he was waiting for more. Beside him, Stiles could feel Derek’s eyes on him.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome!” Stiles corrected. “But it’s weird, right? Like, being able to smell things that I really shouldn’t smell and stuff like that. It’s a lot to get used to.”

“Oh, I—yeah it’s…strange at first,” Isaac replied softly.

“Thank God” Stiles enthused. “I was hoping I wasn’t the only one. You can’t talk to these guys about it because they were all born that way and for them it’s normal.”

He stuck his thumb out to indicate Derek next to him but still refused to look at him.

“I know,” Isaac agreed, the hint of a smile touching his lips. “I thought it was incredible the first recognized someone’s scent, without even seeing them, but they were all ‘so what, we do that all the time.’ And having to get used to hearing things from across the room.”

“Right!” Stiles concurred. “I nearly went crazy in school at first, having to concentrate on what the teacher was saying, when I could hear all the other teachers in the other rooms talking at the same time, let alone all the whispered conversations going on. And don’t even get me started on having to go in the locker room. I nearly passed out from just walking up to the door.”

“How about trying to keep your claws from coming out, when someone annoys you or accidentally ripping the car door off its hinges,” Isaac laughed.

“Oh man, it’s a good thing my Jeep was already so beat-up, otherwise people would have thought I’d been in a car accident every few days,” Stiles chortled. “And then the full moon comes along and BAM! Everything is ten times harder to control. And having to find an anchor and stuff like that. It’s crazy!”

A thoughtful expression crossed Isaac’s face and, for a moment, it looked like Isaac was going to ask him something but then he decided not to.

“It’s not that difficult,” Derek pouted.

“Says the guy who’s had his entire life to adjust to it,” Stiles shot back, finally sparing him a glance. “It’s a hell of a lot different when it’s sprung on you all at once.”

“You gained control quick enough,” Derek huffed.

“That’s not the point, Sourwolf,” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Then what is,” Derek questioned.

“The point is, now I have someone to talk to about all the craziness,” Stiles explained, gesturing to Isaac. “Someone who knows what I’m talking about, when I say something, like ‘I finally understand why dogs take so much enjoyment from chasing squirrels.’” 

Isaac actually snorted in laughter at that.

“See,” Stiles said, waving his hand around at Isaac. “He gets it. He gets how new and amazing this all is, even when you guys just dismiss it as everyday stuff.”

“We don’t dismiss it,” Erica argued, joining the conversation and effectively cutting off whatever Derek was about to say. “We’re just used to it.”

“Well, we aren’t,” Stiles countered.

From there, the conversation spiraled out of control and nearly the entire table was dragged into it. It consisted mostly playful teasing and tons of embarrassing stories about mishaps made while learning control of their abilities. The food was long gone, by the time the conversation finally started winding down.

After lunch, everyone—even Norman, surprisingly—agreed that going for a swim in the lake was a better idea than another football match.

“Ah crap,” Stiles groaned. “I didn’t even think to bring by swim trunks.”

“Neither did I,” Derek said.

“It’s all right,” his dad chuckled. “I thought it might be a good idea to bring them before we left. They’re in the van.”

“And that’s why you continue to earn that ‘World’s Best Dad’ mug I bought you in the third grade,” Stiles whooped.

They quickly ran out to the van and grabbed their swim trunks and then headed back to the cabin to change. Under normal circumstances, he would have just stripped down changed behind the van before anyone noticed, but he didn’t trust Erica. He hadn’t know her long but he wouldn’t put it past her to pop out of nowhere with a camera the second he pulled down his pants. When he jokingly mentioned this to Boyd and Isaac, instead of arguing in Erica’s defense, they told him that he’d made a wise decision.

“Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought,” were Boyd’s exact words.

Even with large the cabin, it was hard to find enough rooms and bathrooms for everyone to change in. As such, Stiles, Derek, Laura, and Erica were all outside, waiting for everyone else. Stiles was only vaguely listening as Laura and Erica were discussing some Reality TV he’d never heard of before. Mostly, he was just keeping up his silent treatment towards Derek, desperately waiting for anyone else to come out and join them.

His prayers were answered, when Isaac came down the steps and made his way towards them. He was wearing a pair of navy blue swim trunks but what caught Stiles’ eye was a necklace gleaming at his throat. It was a chain of milky-white stones with rather ornate golden links holding it together. It looked old, maybe even antique.

_Maybe I’ve just found my opening to find out about his family._

“Cool necklace, dude,” Stiles complimented. “Is it a family heirloom or something?”

Isaac reacted like Stiles had just slapped him in the face. His entire body tensed up, as if preparing for some kind of assault. Erica was instantly at Isaac’s side, standing slightly in front of him, glaring daggers at Stiles.

“No,” Isaac said cautiously. “It’s hecatolite.”

“Okaaaaay?” Stiles nodded, still confused.

“Moonstone,” Erica said in a taut voice, looking him up and down, probably calculating the best way to ripe his spine out.

“I have a feeling that I’m missing something here,” Stiles stated, looking back and forth from Erica and Isaac to Derek and Laura. “Something important.”

“Moonstone has a few unique qualities that affect werewolves,” Laura explained, walking up beside Stiles, resting her hand on his shoulder protectively. “We never got around to telling Stiles about it, because he never needed it.”

“Needed it for what?” Stiles questioned. “What do moonstones do?”

Everyone gave him a thoughtful look, which would have annoyed him, if he hadn’t been so grateful that Isaac no longer looked so afraid of him and Erica didn’t look like she was going to rip him to pieces.

“They help me control my wolf,” Isaac admitted dejectedly.

“Moonstone has the ability to scatter moonlight and block the effects of the full moon on a werewolf,” Laura clarified. “It can completely suppress a werewolf’s shift and even dampen some of our strength and other abilities.”

“So, basically you’re telling me that moonstone is Werewolf Kryptonite,” Stiles said excitedly, battling the grin threatening to break out on his face, and losing. Derek gave a little snort of a laugh.

“Not exactly, but close,” Laura laughed. “In small amounts it can make sure that we don’t unintentionally let out our claws or fangs and keeps our eyes from flashing. That’s usually how we take pictures and get driver’s licenses. Closer to the full moon it helps us hold back our more violent urges, until we can release all that pent up energy under our Alpha’s supervision. Derek and I both wore moonstone jewelry around full moons for most all of Middle School and the beginning of High School.”

“Werewolves don’t start fully shifting until we reach puberty,” Erica cut in. “We still have a better strength, speed, healing, and heightened senses before that, but the actual change doesn’t take place until around age twelve or thirteen.”

“That much, I knew already,” Stiles acknowledged.

“Well, smarty-pants, do you know how hard it is, having to deal with your first few shifts, when your body is already an insane cocktail or hormones and teen angst,” Erica shot back. “It’s not pretty, I’ll tell you that much.”

“I remember,” Stiles cringed.

“It’s not that great for a newly bitten werewolf, who hasn’t found their anchor yet, either,” Isaac spoke up, self-loathing clear in his voice. “Especially when the most powerful full moon of the year is only a few days away.”

_Aw crap! He thought I was making fun of him._

“Shit! Sorry man. I probably sounded like an asshole, when I mentioned your necklace,” Stiles apologized. “But I totally didn’t mean it that way. I was, like, genuinely complimenting what I thought was a solid fashion choice.”

“It’s okay,” Isaac shrugged, as he fiddled with the necklace.

Clearly, he wanted to change the subject. Stiles would have been more than happy to change to a new topic, except a thought popped into his head.

“So, how come I never got any nifty moonstone bling, when I was first bitten?” Stiles whined.

“Because, by the time we found you, you already had enough control to not need any,” Derek retorted. “If we had given you any, it might have hurt your control instead of helping it.”

“Why,” Stiles asked. “I thought you just said it helps you suppress your shifting, how could it have messed up my control.”

“Under the right circumstances it can,” Laura cautioned. “You weren’t completely wrong, when you called it Werewolf Kryptonite. It physically suppressed our wolf but that energy and emotions don’t just go away. They build up inside you and they tend to just burst out, when you finally do take the moonstones away. If we had given you a piece of moonstone jewelry to wear, it would have suppressed your wolf and then it would have all rushed back at you the second you took it off. That kind of yo-yoing could have seriously damaged your control.”

“So, what, you just Hulk out when you take off the moonstones?” Stiles asked.

“Not necessarily,” Boyd corrected, startling Stiles, who hadn’t heard him approach. He may be built like a tank but the guy was as sneaky as a ninja. “It depends on a lot of things, like how good your control is, how long you’ve been wearing the moonstone for, and how close it is to the full moon.”

“Like, if you wore it through the full moon and took it off the next morning,” Stiles guessed.

“No, a little necklace like this wouldn’t be strong enough to hold you back on a full moon,” Isaac said. “I can still shift and stuff, just like you can, wearing this necklace. It just keeps some of the anger and murderous aggression in check. You’d need a room made of moonstone or something like that to block the effects of a full moon. Not that I’d want to do something like that.”

“Ugh, that would suck,” Stiles agreed.

_I couldn’t imagine a worse form of torture than having to sit through a full moon, feeling all the power and energy but not being able to shift and enjoy it. I’d go crazy!_

“Hey, are we gonna go swimming, or what?” Jamie called out impatiently, interrupting the conversation.

Almost everyone had finished changing and had come outside while they’d been talking. Jamie was anxiously bouncing back and forth with the kind of energy that only little kids—and pre-werewolf Stiles without his Adderall—possessed.

Now that he was paying more attention, he realized that Jamie was also wearing a piece of moonstone jewelry. It was a small moonstone pendant, carved in the shape of a wolf’s head on a thin silver chain.

Since most of them were ready, they decided to head down to the lake and let the stragglers catch up. On the way there, Isaac came up to walk beside Stiles. It wasn’t until Stiles was standing right next to him that he realized. Isaac was tall. He was taller than both Derek and him. Isaac might actually be the tallest person there. The shock of the realization threw him a little off balance. How was it that Isaac was one of the tallest people here and yet, whenever Stiles looked at him, he always got the impression that Isaac was small and fragile? Maybe it had something to do with the way he carried himself, always slouching and hunching his shoulders, keeping his arms close to him, like he was trying to curl up inside himself. His body language screamed meek and submissive. It wasn’t that obvious unless you looked close, or you had a werewolf’s skill at reading body language.

Then there was the way the others in his pack treated him. Their movements were always gentle and encouraging, always trying to coax him out of his shell. Erica had mentioned that, when he was bitten, her pack had sort of adopted him. He suspected that there was a little bit more to the story and he desperately wanted to ask about it but he didn’t want to be rude and ask. At least, not when others were in hearing range.

He was a little lost in his train of thought that he almost missed it Isaac spoke.

“You were right,” Isaac uttered softly.

“Huh?”

“The necklace,” Isaac elaborated. “It is a family heirloom. The Reyes Family has a bunch of old moonstone jewelry that they pass down from generation to generation.”

“Most werewolf families do,” Derek added from Stiles’ other side. “They accumulate them through the years. A lot of ours were lost in the fire, but we kept a few of the older and more valuable pieces in a safety deposit box.”

 “All the Reyes ones looked really valuable,” Isaac said, fiddling with his necklace again. “They told me I could pick out whatever piece I wanted to wear, until I found my anchor. I wanted to just go out and buy a cheap one from one of those New Age stores, but they insisted. I tried to pick the least expensive looking one. It still feels like I’m going to mess up and break it.”

“I know what you mean,” Laura confided. “My mom had this beautiful moonstone, butterfly necklace, a Rene Lalique original. It was one of the few that we had in the safety deposit box. I’m scared to even look at it, let alone actually wear it.”

“So, now we see the real reason I wasn’t given any moonstone jewelry,” Stiles joked. “I’m too clumsy to be trusted with the antiques.”

Derek groaned in exasperation, while Laura just shook her head fondly.

Isaac stopped walking and the three of them paused to see what was the matter.

“Can I—um, can I have a word with Stiles?” Isaac mumbled eyes cast down at his feet.

Derek and Laura gave Stiles a raised eyebrow but he just nodded and motioned for them to go on ahead.

“We’ll see you down at the lake,” Laura called over her shoulder as she and Derek took off at a faster pace.

“What’s up,” Stiles asked, turning to Isaac.

“You’ve been a werewolf for a while,” Isaac stated, still looking at his feet.

“Yeah, over a year now, closer to two,” Stiles answered, wondering where this was going.

“But you’ve had control since the beginning,” Isaac said, finally looking up and staring at Stiles with pleading eyes. “How did you find your anchor?”

He should have suspected something like this, from the odd look Isaac had given him at lunch and with that whole conversation about why Isaac needed his moonstone necklace.

“I um, well it wasn’t—I’m not really sure,” Stiles admitted, scratching the back of his neck and fidgeting. “I mean, I was terrified at first. Well, once I realized there was a down side to my awesome stuff. The idea that I might turn into a raving homicidal monster at the full moon nearly turned my hair white. What freaked me out the most was the thought of hurting my dad.”

Isaac continued to stare at him intensely, as if Stiles would reveal the secrets of the universe to him. He really wanted to be able to give Isaac those answers but he didn’t know if he could. Finding your anchor is kind of a personal thing; it’s not the same for everyone. Fighting the urge to wrap Isaac in a hug, he tried to think of what to say.

“See my dad’s the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, the town we’re from,” Stiles explained. “If I did freak out and accidentally attack someone, it would probably be my dad who would have to come and investigate it. I couldn’t bear the thought of hurting and maybe even killing him. I nearly had a panic attack in my room a few nights before my first full moon. My dad had been downstairs at the time and all I could remember was staring at an old family picture, thinking ‘I can’t lose my dad.’ When I was younger, I lost my mom to cancer. I’d rather die than lose my dad too. I guess that was a strong enough idea or emotion to help me keep my wolf in check.”

“So, it was your dad,” Isaac said despairingly.

“I take it that things aren’t so great between you and your dad,” Stiles surmised.

“That’s an understatement,” Isaac scoffed.

“What about your mom,” Stiles suggested gently.

“She’s gone,” Isaac said hollowly. “My brother too.”

“Still you gotta have some good memories of them,” Stiles insisted.

Isaac just gave him a questioning look.

“I told you I was staring at an old family picture, when first learned control,” Stiles reminded. “It was my mom’s memory, just as much as my love for my dad, that helped me hold it together. Maybe you could try thinking of your mom and brother.”

Isaac seemed to seriously ponder this for a few moments. Stiles opened his mouth to say something else, when they were interrupted by excited whoops and hollers. The rest pack members had finally finished getting changed and were walking towards them. The triplets, all dressed in designer bikinis, were making a beeline directly for the two of them. They must have been able to smell Isaac’s distress, because they were giving Stiles accusatory looks.

Isaac noticed this as well and shook his head at them. They frowned but kept going, giving him and Isaac some space again.

“Sorry about them,” Isaac apologized. “They’re protective.”

“No worries,” Stiles replied. “Derek and Laura are the same way.”

“Thanks, for the advice” Isaac said with a weak smile. “I think it’ll help.”

“No problemo buddy,” Stiles returned with an encouraging smile. He threw an arm around Isaac’s shoulder and was gratified when Isaac only flinched a little and then relaxed. “We should get going before they start having too much fun without us.”

Everyone was already in the water, splashing around by the time he and Isaac caught up. Everyone except Derek. His large brooding form was positioned halfway to the water, standing watch like a sentinel. Wearing his red swim trunks and a serious expression, he could easily be mistaken for some kind of lifeguard.

Without meaning to, a scenario played out in him mind where Derek was the hot but unapproachable lifeguard and Stiles then fakes drowning so that Derek has to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

_No! Stop! Bad Stiles! That’s not an image I need in my head while I’m still trying to be mad at him._

“Come on, Isaac,” Stiles grinned at the other wolf. “Race you to the water.”

Isaac grinned back and they took off. They zipped past Derek in a mad dash to the water.

 

 

It was a really nice little beach, even if it there were more pebbles than sand. The water was a perfect temperature for summer, warm enough to not freeze but cool enough to be refreshing. An impromptu game of Marco Polo commenced. It was nowhere near as competitive as the football match had been but still fun. Of course that competitive streak reared its head later on, when they decided to hold swimming contests to see who could swim to the buoy and back the fastest.

It was hard to stay mad at Derek for too long and Stiles soon stopped giving Derek the silent treatment. He even teamed up with Derek for the relay swimming contest.

Jace smartly kept his distance.

His dad left early to help some of the others prepare dinner. Everyone else stayed until their fingers and toes were all wrinkled and pruney.

The tempting smell of barbeque is what finally convinced everyone to head back to the cabin. When they got there, they were surprised to find that the Alphas had returned. There was a lot of hugging and some not so subtle sniffing to see if anyone could pick up a clue as to what they had been up to all day, but they must have showered and changed because no one was able to pick up anything.

Since it was so nice out, they decided to eat outside and watch the sunset. Kyle even started to build up a campfire to roast some marshmallows over later. Even though Derek assured him that he was fine, Stiles knew how Derek still felt around fire and made sure that they were seated upwind of it. Everyone else was scattered around the fire and he and Derek ended up sitting next to Nancy and Alicia.

While they were eating some truly delicious BBQ ribs and burgers, Stiles noticed Tawiyela speaking with Peter.

“So, this might be rude, but…what exactly is Tawiyela?” Stiles asked nervously. “I mean, she’s not a wolf, but she’s not exactly human either.”

Alicia giggled but Nancy gave him an indulgent look.

“You might call her a Medicine Woman or a Shaman, if that makes more sense to you,” Nancy explained. “She’s our pack Emissary.”

“You know about Emissaries, right?” Alicia asked.

“Yes, I know what an Emissary is,” Stiles said exasperatedly. It seemed like everyone had heard about his little mishap about the moonstones earlier. “Just because I didn’t know about moonstones, doesn’t mean I’m completely ignorant. They’re advisors to the Alpha. They usually have some kind of mystical mojo and they help packs with stuff, like negotiating with other aggressive packs or helping them to heal after a hunter attack. But aren’t they supposed to be, like, a secret or something? I know ours is.”

“Every pack is different. It’s more of a personal choice on the part of the Alpha and the Emissary, but most of the time, only the Alpha knows who the Emissary is, for their protection.” Nancy agreed.

“Peter and Laura know who our Emissary is,” Derek offered. “I only know it’s a man and I think he’s some kind of Druid.”

“So, you’ve never met your pack Emissary?” Alicia inquired.

“No,” Derek shook his head.

“Didn’t you tell me once that there’s some kind of bad blood between Peter and him?” Stiles remembered.

“He and Peter had a bit of a falling out, after the fire,” Derek admitted. “I don’t exactly know what it was about. I think it mostly had to do with Peter accusing him of not doing enough to protect the family. They still talk…occasionally. But Laura said something about him retiring from being an Emissary.”

“That can’t be right,” Nancy frowned. “Being Emissary to a pack isn’t just some job you can quit. When you agree to become an Emissary, you swear a sacred oath to defend and serve the pack until you die or a successor to you position is confirmed. An Emissary is supposed to stand with a pack to its very last member. For him or her to do anything less is…”

Nancy’s voice trailed off as a mixture of complex emotions clouded her face. He could see her struggling to find a word that would fit what she was trying to explain.

“A betrayal,” Derek finished for her.

“Yes,” Nancy concurred. “I can’t think of a worse one.”

The mood was tense and uneasy for a few moments. Stiles, who had never been good with uncomfortable silences, decided to break the ice.

“So, I’m guessing that Bryan and Tawiyela getting married was against the rules,” Stiles speculated, changing the subject.

“It is, but Bryan and Tawiyela fell in love and they broke tradition to be together,” Alicia sighed dramatically and pretended to swoon.

“It’s not exactly forbidden,” Nancy said, giving Alicia a fond look. “But it’s frowned upon.”

“So, what happens if they only have werewolf kids?” Stiles asked. “Who would become the next pack Emissary?”

“The Emissary isn’t a hereditary position,” Nancy corrected.

“Nancy’s actually going to be our next Emissary!” Alicia announced joyfully.

“Really?” Stiles and Derek asked together.

“I’m still in training,” Nancy blushed. “But one day, if I learn enough of what Tawiyela’s been teaching me, I might become the next Pack Emissary.”

“Don’t let her modesty fool you,” Alicia said. “She’s really good. Tawiyela even said that she was mastering things even faster than she expected.”

“That’s awesome!” Stiles enthused. “I always thought a lot of the magic Peter told me about sounded pretty cool, like using Mountain Ash and stuff. But I thought you had to be a druid or shaman or whatever. I didn’t know you could just become one.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Nancy admitted.

“You have to have the Spark,” Alicia said.

“The Spark?” Stiles asked.

“An inner spark of power,” Nancy elaborated. “A natural inclination for using magic. Some humans naturally possess it but it also helps to have some kind of supernatural genes in your family. Even a druid or witch a ways back in your family tree can be enough to pass down a bit of power that might pop up in later generations.”

“So, you’ve never thought about asking for the bite?” Stiles inquired. “I mean, you have a choice, right. You could become an Emissary or a werewolf.”

“Never really thought of it that way,” Nancy shrugged. “Growing up, I was never made to feel that is was a bad thing that I was born human. I’m still their daughter. Plus, not being a werewolf has its advantages. I could join all the sports and clubs in school that I wanted. I don’t have to worry about accidentally wolfing out on someone if I get too upset about something.”

“Yeah, there is that,” Stiles agreed.

“It’s interesting actually,” Nancy continued “Tawiyela mentioned it to me last night that she thought that you might’ve had a spark, Stiles.”

“Me!” Stiles squawked, nearly toppling the plate of food on his lap.

“Yes you,” Nancy laughed. “A lot of people never realize they possess a Spark, if they don’t grow up around the supernatural. If your pack Emissary had been around more, he might have recognized it in you and maybe even trained you to use it.”

“Whoa,” Stiles said, trying to process the new information.

“Bit of a moot point now,” Derek shrugged.

“Not necessarily,” Nancy said. “The spark doesn’t just go away, if you become a werewolf. Obviously you wouldn’t be able to wield Mountain Ash but I wonder if becoming a werewolf might have changed that power within you. It would certainly explain how you were able to control your wolf so easily when you were first turned.”

“I guess but—”

Stiles was interrupted by the three Alphas calling for everyone’s attention.

“We’ll talk about it more, later,” Nancy whispered to him.

Stiles nodded in agreement.

“Now that our hunger has been sated, it’s time to move on to a very important part of this Gathering,” Bryan announced.

“Our kind had no true records of our history, as written words can be dangerous in the wrong hands,” Sophia continued in her melodious voice. “It is only through passing down stories from generation to generation and at gatherings like this that we can piece together our past.”

“We look now to our elders, the keepers of wisdom, to share our stories with the next generation,” Peter finished.

Stiles wondered if they’d rehearsed their speech beforehand. Either way, the effect worked. He felt like he was part of some ancient ceremony. And in a way it kind of was.

No one spoke as the three eldest werewolves there moved closer to the fire. There was Aaron Clark, a wiry old man in his sixties or so, with a leathery face, salt and pepper hair, and twinkling blue eyes. He was Alpha Bryan’s father and mate of the former Alpha of the Portland Pack. Next to him was his twin sister Amanda. She was a graceful, willowy woman, with long dark hair shot through with a few strands of white. She had the same blue eyes as her brother but her face was softer and had more laugh lines around her eyes. Her smile was warm and gentle.

Lastly, there was Olivia Reyes. When he first met her, Stiles had thought she was Erica’s grandmother, but it turned out she was her great-grandmother. Nearing one hundred years old, she was still a formidable looking old lady with a mass of silver curls and the same dark brown eyes as her granddaughter, Alpha Sophia.

All of the Reyes women were rather petite, but that in no way took from their strong presence. They drew your attention, even if they weren’t speaking or doing much of anything. There was just something about the way they held themselves or some inner strength that commanded attention.

Olivia Reyes possessed it in spades.

The flickering light of the flames cast dramatic shadows across her wrinkled face. It somehow made her appear even more imposing.

He couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran up his spine.

Olivia was the first to speak, her voice was low but perfectly audible.

“We begin, as our kind has always begun, with the moon,” She intoned. “The Moon is the mother of werewolves and we, her beloved children. It is not known if the first of our kind were originally wolves that she blessed with the ability to become human or humans that she blessed with the ability to become wolves. We do know that she gave us speed and strength to battled the predators and defend our families. She gave us healing to protect us from sickness. And she gave us the power to pass on our gifts through birth and through bite, but tempered it by only allowing the wise Alphas to decide who could be changed.”

“She smiled upon her children from her place in the night sky and at first all was well,” Aaron took over. “But then the next generation of werewolves began to grow and as they approached adulthood it was not as easy for them to maintain their balance between human and wolf. The light of her fullness, which brought such joy to elder wolves, brought only madness and suffering to the younger ones and to those around them.”

“The Mother Moon wept bitter tears for the suffering of her children and as they fell to the earth they solidified into what we now call moonstones,” Amanda continued. “The Children of the Moon recognized these precious stones for the divine gift that they were and used them to help ease the transition of the younger wolves into adulthood.”

“Such was the relief they provided that even those who weren’t blessed by the Mother Moon celebrated their creation,” Aaron took over again. “In the ancient world, moonstones were high prized for jewelry and other ceremonial purposes. The Romans came the closest to realizing what they were when they said they were “born of solidified rays of moonlight”. Nations all across the globe also recognized the importance of moonstones, connecting them with various deities over the centuries. To this day, they are still considered sacred in India.”

“But always, it is our kind to treasure them the most,” Olivia spoke. “For we understand their true significance and cherish them.”

Stiles knew they were really pushing the moonstone thing because of what happened earlier. He felt bad for calling all this attention to him.

“They’re not doing this because of what happened earlier,” Derek told him a soft voice that wouldn’t disturb the elders speaking. “They tell this same story at every gathering. It’s the oldest story that’s passed down for our kind.”

He thought that Derek might be trying to cheer him up but he didn’t hear any lies in what he said. Stiles looked over and caught Isaac’s attention. Isaac just gave him small nod to tell him that everything was fine and went back to listening to the story.

It didn’t last much longer and soon the elders were finishing their tale. He was a little disappointed because he thought for sure that there would be more interesting stories to be told. His disappointment must have shown on his face because Derek was instantly explaining why the stories were so simple.

“It was just the first opening tale,” Derek assured. “They always start off with the obscure ancient stuff first and work their way up to the more recent history every night. Just wait until the night before Lu—the full moon. You’ll get the really good stories then.”

Stiles caught Derek’s slipup and was about to mention it, when Kyle broke out the marshmallows. Food was always a good distraction for Stiles and s’mores were his favorite. He knew that the upcoming full moon was important but he didn’t think Derek would tell him about it just yet. If what Derek said was true, then he would eventually find out about it in the days to come.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! The ending was a little rushed because I had to finish it before the library closed. Not having a computer sucks! I wanted to add a little more werewolf history/wolf mythology but I just ran out of time. There will be more in the coming chapters.
> 
> You can see what I based Isaac's moonstone necklace on in this tumblr post  
> http://luminescentlily.tumblr.com/post/63871244941/thejealoussociety-fine-old-moonstone-necklace
> 
> and the necklace Laura mentioned in this post  
> http://luminescentlily.tumblr.com/search/butterfly+necklace
> 
> I love Rene Lalique. I think his jewelry is the most beautiful I've ever seen. If you like Art Nouveau style jewelry then you should definitely check out some of his work.
> 
> I also want to remind everyone that the Wolf Pack Charity Auction, hosted by the Sterek Campaign, starts this Friday Nov. 8th-11th, 2013. I will have two commissions up for auction, one of 5k words and one of 10k words for you guys to bid on. It's for a really great cause, so go check it out!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry about last week, but I couldn't post a new chapter because the Library I go to for computer use was closed for Veteran's Day. This chapter is another one that spiralled out longer than I originally anticipated, so I broke it into two parts. Then next chapter will have the end of the first challenge as well as more werewolf history and lore.
> 
> Hope you guys lilke it.

 

 

***Derek***

After waking up wrapped around Stiles for the second morning in a row, Derek didn’t know if he wanted to kill his uncle or thank him.  He was positive that his Alpha had purposely arranged it so that he and Stiles had to share the same bed, just to torture him. He wanted to kill Peter for putting him in this humiliating situation but he also, in a weird way, treasured these stolen moments with Stiles in his arms. That and having his scent all over Stiles was probably the only thing keeping him sane whenever Jace was around.

Even though the bed was plenty big enough for two grown men to sleep on without touching at all, two werewolves would instinctively move closer together for the comfort of pack. If it had been Peter or Laura on the other side of the bed, he probably still would have curled closer to them during the night, though not to the extend he did with Stiles. Objectively, he knew that it was his own inner instincts and that put him in this position. While he was awake, he could hold back his more primal urges to grab hold of Stiles and rub his scent all over him. Unconscious Derek had no such control.

This morning was even worse than yesterday. He awoke to find himself fully on top of Stiles, mouthing at the back of the younger wolf’s neck, and grinding his erection in-between Stiles’ ass cheeks. Those ridiculously lose sleep pants had slid down to Stiles knees sometime during the night, leaving only the thin material of Derek’s boxers as a barrier between them.

To make matters even worse, Stiles was again making those damnably lewd sounds in his sleep. It was difficult enough for Derek to pull himself away from Stiles, without the downright pornographic noises making it harder for him, in every sense of the word.

This time it took at least ten minutes for him to disentangle himself from Stiles and the bed. When he finally succeeded, he ended up pressed against the wall panting and physically struggling to control his wolf. Looking at Stiles, still asleep, snuggling even further into the bed now that Derek’s warmth was gone, Derek realized that a cold shower wouldn’t be enough this morning. Taking one last look at Stiles’ nearly naked form on the bed, he dashed to the bathroom.

Not even caring what temperature the water was, he got in the shower and started furiously pumping his cock. With the scent of Stiles still clinging to his skin, driving him crazy, he could almost pretend that it was Stiles’ hand wrapped around his aching cock. What he wouldn’t give to always smell this way, to be with Stiles so much that his scent actually became a part of his own.

He’d never wanted anything more than he wanted that.

He was already so close and he’d just barely started. Closing his eyes, he pictured Stiles still on the bed, face in the pillows, and his bare ass waving in the air enticingly. There had been a slight redness on the back of Stiles’ neck from his stubble. Imagining all marks he could put on Stiles’ skin, he thrust into his hand faster. He just wanted to pounce on him and claim him. Just hold him down and fuck him into the bed. Into their bed.

It was that last thought that sent him over the edge. Biting down on his fist to muffle the sound of his groans, he came in thick ropes against the tile wall.

When he finally came down from his orgasm a few moments later, his head was much clearer but his wolf wasn’t any less roused up. Before he turned off the water, he made sure to wash away all his cum on the wall and open the bathroom window to air it out.

Even with the blast of fresh air from outside, his wolf still grumbled to go back in the bedroom and claim Stiles. It wasn’t as strong was when he woke up, but the urge was still stronger than usual.

 _It must be the moon._ He thought

Werewolves always got more agitated and emotional the closer it got to a full moon and this one was going to be the largest full moon of the year.

He needed to get out of the cabin and burn off some of this nervous energy. A run would be good.

Stepping out of the bathroom, he didn’t even bother drying off. He would have to take another shower when he got back from the run anyway, so there was no use wasting a towel. He briefly considered going for his run naked, rather than face having to go back into the room he shared with Stiles, but there was always a chance he was spotted and he didn’t want to be arrested for indecent exposure on their vacation.

He practically had to hold his breath, while he quickly grabbed a pair of shorts and ran back out of the room. Thankfully, Stiles had pulled a sheet up over himself while Derek had been in the shower, so he didn’t have that visual temptation as well.

Forgoing shoes, he headed straight out the door. It was early enough that a heavy coating of dew still covered everything.

Just stepping outside helped immensely. True, his wolf would rather be inside engaging in an entirely different physical activity, but a good run was a close second. With that in mind he took off at a brisk pace. He was careful not to stray too far into the forest and risk running into whatever the Alphas had set up as their first challenge.

It was when he neared the lake that he heard the unmistakable sounds of someone following him. His wolf was instantly on alert, not liking the idea of someone stalking him. He was the predator here, not the prey. Concentrating his hearing, he focused in on the person following him. The steady heartbeat and even breathing at this fast of a pace meant that it could only be another werewolf.

For a moment he entertained the hope that Stiles had woken up and followed him.

That hope was crushed the moment he heard his name being called.

“Derek,” Jace shouted to him.

He ground his teeth in annoyance. Jace was, without a doubt, the absolute last person he had wanted to encounter on his run.

He briefly considered outrunning him but he was supposed to be on his best behavior with the other packs this trip. Plus, when you have a werewolf’s sense of hearing, you couldn’t exactly pretend that you didn’t hear someone calling for you.

Reluctantly, he slowed to a stop and waited for Jace to catch up.

“Fancy meeting you out here this early,” Jace said, his saccharine voice made Derek raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

“What do you want,” Derek growled.

 _So much for staying on my best behavior._ He chastised himself.

He couldn’t help it. This was a rival for Stiles, his wolf was screaming at him. With his temper further fueled by the approaching supermoon, Jace was lucky that Derek didn’t rip his throat out right on the spot.

“Not much for pleasantries I see,” Jace smirked. “You really are a Sourwolf, aren’t you?”

He scowled at that. Sourwolf was Stiles’ special nickname for him and only Stiles was allowed to call him that. Peter and Laura weren’t even allowed to call him that, let alone the smug little bastard in front of him.

“Only Stiles can call me that,” Derek informed him coldly.

“Oh,” Jace said razing a questioning eyebrow. “You and Stiles seem to be pretty close?”

“We’re pack,” Derek stated, not liking where this conversation was heading.

“But you aren’t together, are you?” Jace questioned. “I know Stiles said you weren’t dating the other day, but there isn’t anything else between you two, is there?”

“No,” Derek admitted reluctantly.

 “But you want there to be,” Jace smirked, knowingly.

Derek growled, but he felt his face flushing. The urge to punch that smug look off his face was growing by the second.

“What happened, you asked him out and he turned you down,” Jace laughed. “Or, don’t tell me you two slept together and then he just wanted to be _friends_.”

“That’s none of your business,” Derek gritted out.

“Well that struck a nerve,” Jace observed. “I honesty wouldn’t have imagined Stiles as the love ‘em and leave ‘em type, but I can’t say that doesn’t appeal to me a little.”

 _He’s not._ Derek wanted to say but he didn’t want to elaborate and give Jace any more ammunition to use against him. He definitely didn’t want Jace to know that Stiles had rejected his claiming bite.

“I don’t have to stand here and listen to this,” Derek said, turning and starting in the opposite direction.

“Fine by me,” Jace replied. “I only stopped you to make sure you weren’t any real competition for Stiles.”

Derek wanted to just walk away but he couldn’t. Instead, he stopped in his tracks and cast an accusatory look at Jace.

“You hardly know him,” Derek stated. “Any you could have anyone else you wanted. Why are you so keen on Stiles?”

“Pickings are slim for our kind,” Jace explained. “It’s hard enough to find another werewolf to date outside of your pack, but another gay werewolf, who’s even halfway decent looking, is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Stiles is more than just _decent looking_ ,” Derek argued.

“ _Yes he is_ ,” Jace said suggestively, making Derek wanted to punch him even more.

“He’s not some plaything either,” Derek said. “He deserves better than someone who just wants to get in his pants.”

“True, I’m not looking for a _mate_ ,” Jace rolled his eyes. The distain in his voice, when he said the word ‘mate,’ made Derek’s hackles rise. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun. And who knows. If the sex is good enough, I could be talked into something a little more long term.”

Blood red started to creep into the edges of Derek’s vision and he knew that, if he didn’t leave now, he’d lose it completely. The wolf in him hated the thought that he was running away like a coward, like prey, but he didn’t have any other choice. He had to get out of there before he beat the living daylights out of Jace, maybe even kill him. He pushed that thought down with all his willpower and started running again.

“Good talking with you Derek,” Jace called out after him snidely. “I’ll see you at the first challenge.”

When he was far enough away that he could think properly again, he realized that Jace had been baiting him on purpose. Now that Jace was no longer in front of him, he could analyze their conversation clearly. Everything, from the tone of his voice to the way he’d been standing, had screamed aggression. Jace had wanted Derek to attack him. Whether he hoped to gain sympathy from Stiles or maybe even get him thrown out of the Pack Gathering, so Jace could have Stiles all to himself, he didn’t know. All he knew was that his morning run was officially ruined.

 _So much for helping me to calm down._ He thought bitterly as he stomped up the front steps of their cabin.

Peter was awake and making breakfast, when he stormed through the door.

“I would say it looked like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed but I didn’t really think that was possible, when you’re sharing a bed with Stiles,” Peter said with a raised eyebrow at Derek’s bad temper. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Derek barked.

“Yes, because being upset makes you a better liar,” Peter sassed, rolling his eyes. “Obviously something is bothering you.”

Derek stayed silent, still too frustrated to think of the right way to explain.

“Derek, you know you can always talk—”

“Morning,” Stiles yawned as he emerged from their room, with his sleep pants pulled up to where they should be and a shirt on.

Stiles hadn’t showered yet and still smelled strongly of Derek. That did more to calm Derek down than anything else could have. Jace may try and seduce Stiles, but Stiles will always be pack.

Peter noticed his drastic change in mood and let the matter drop. For now at least.

John and Laura joined them a few moments later, just as Peter finished cooking the last batch of scrambled eggs. Breakfast wasn’t as fancy as yesterday but there seemed to be twice as much.

“So, the Master Chef didn’t cook this morning,” Stiles teased, as he grabbed another piece of bacon.

“Went for a run,” Derek frowned, wishing that he had just stayed in and cooked.

_At least then I could have been in a better mood and it would have made Stiles happy._

“I hope you didn’t tire yourself out too much,” John said. “You kids have that challenge today, don’t you?”

“Yes, they do,” Peter confirmed. “Which is why I made extra this morning. Not only will you need the extra energy but, for you at least, lunch won’t be served until after the challenge is done.”

“What!” Stiles squawked. “How long will this challenge take exactly?”

“As long as it needs to,” Peter said cryptically.

“All the more motivation for us to win the challenge quickly,” Laura chimed in.

“But what if it takes too long and we all starve?” Stiles whined. “We should at least get some kind of snake break.”

“Really, son,” John laughed. “I didn’t realize you were still in kindergarten.”

“I can assure,” Peter said. “That, once the challenge starts, you’ll all be so preoccupied that you won’t even notice

“Well, if I starve to death, I’m haunting you for the rest of your life,” Stiles threatened. “Especially, whenever you try and eat. You’ll never have a peaceful meal again.”

“As opposed to the ones I have now,” Peter shot back with a raised eyebrow.

Peter and Stiles continued to squabble good-naturedly for a little while, with Laura and John commenting as well. For his part, Derek was content to sit back and listen, letting the comforting feeling of pack and safety wash over him. He tried to absorb as much of the calming essence as he could, knowing that he would need it when he saw Jace again.

After they finished eating, everyone went back to their rooms to get ready. Derek noticed that Stiles had made the bed; the thick comforter muted most of their combined scents, so that Derek didn’t have a repeat of that morning. Grabbing some clothes, he took the first shower. He was gratified to find that the smell of his earlier activities in the bathroom had dissipated.

Once everyone was ready, they climbed into the mini-van and drove off. Peter drove them down a dirt road that was cut off by a simple chain gate. An official looking sign hung from the middle of the chain, announcing that they’d reached the end of the camping area and ahead was officially part of the national pack and off limits to unauthorized personnel. There were several other cars parked near it, Bryan’s Range Rover among them.

_Looks like we’re on foot from here._

Getting out of the car, Derek could pick up trace scents of who had been there. It looked like the Clarke Pack was there but there was no sign that the Reyes Pack had arrived yet. That gave him a little more time, before he had to face Jace again.

Peter led the way, past the chain gate and deeper into the forest. Soon they came across a large clearing where the Clarke Pack was already assembled.

Scanning the area, it didn’t seem like anything other than a regular clearing. There certainly weren’t any type of obstacles or other traps that the three Alphas could have spent all of yesterday putting together. But, then again, this was Peter they were talking about. If this was the challenge that he had designed, then Derek knew there would be much more to it than met the eye.

“And here I thought we were going to be fashionably late,” Peter greeted the other pack. “Turns out we’re early.”

“The Reyes Pack should be here soon,” Bryan assured.

“They’ll be here in just a sec,” Stiles said as he tapped away on his phone. “Erica says they just pulled up at the gate back there.”

Sure enough, a few moments later, the Reyes Pack entered the clearing from the same trail they had just come from. Jace threw him a sly look as he entered the clearing, again making Derek scowl. Once everyone was there, the three Alphas walked to the center of the clearing and called everyone to attention.

Everyone was itching to start. Derek could practically taste the excitement in the air. Like the feeling you get right before lightening strikes. It made yesterday’s football game feel like a tiny static shock in comparison.

“While we gathered together to renew our friendships and share information, even I can’t deny how much everyone had been looking forward to these competitions,” Bryan declared. “So without further ado, we’ll explain the first challenge.”

“On our first night here, we told you that each challenge would be based on skills of how a true wolf pack hunts in the wild,” Peter reminded them. “And the first step for any wolf pack in taking down its prey is first finding it.”

At a subtle signal from Bryan, Tawiyela walked forward carrying four dark bags.

“You’re first challenge is to utilize your sense of smell to track your prize,” Sophia explained. “In each of these bags holds a scent that you will have to locate and follow to an end target.”

“Pff, is that all,” Norman huffed. “I could do that in my sleep.”

“There is more to the challenge than that,” Bryan said, sending Norman a stern look that had the younger man hanging his head in embarrassment.

“There are, of course, several scent trails crisscrossing the forest, some are your trails, others are simply distractions,” Sophia continued. “As well as false trails and other deceptions.”

“Will we all have the same scent to follow?” Erica asked.

“No,” Peter replied. “This challenge is more about your skill in tracking. There will be plenty of opportunities for more direct competition in the next few challenges.”

“How will we know when we’ve found our target,” Aubrey asked.

“At the end of each scent trail, there will be a large deposit of your scent as well as a box with proof that you found it,” Bryan answered.

“What kind of proof,” Norman asked.

“You’ll just have to find it and see,” Peter said slyly.

“Any other questions before we begin?” Sophia inquired.

“Why do you have four bags?” Stiles asked. “You said each bag has a scent that we’ll have to follow and you have four bags, but there are only three packs.”

Derek had been thinking the same thing. Judging from the murmurs around the clearing, he hadn’t been the only one.

“An excellent question,” Bryan acknowledged. “While this challenge can be accomplished by groups of any number, the next two challenges will go smoother if each team had similar numbers.”

“To put it bluntly, the Reyes Pack is too big and we’re cutting it in two,” Peter stated.

“Won’t that cut our chances of winning in half,” Erica accused.

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Peter acknowledged. “Another way of looking at it is that it will double the likelihood that a team from the Reyes Pack will win.”

“We’ll be one team,” Gemma said, gesturing to herself and the other two triplets. “We’re practically a mini pack already. And you get Isaac and Jace. That puts you on the same footing as us and the Hale Pack.”

“Don’t forget about me,” Jamie cried out.

“I’d never forget about you, Jamie,” Erica assured. “You’re on my team.”

Jamie beamed with happiness while the triplets just shrugged.

When it was all settled there were two teams of three and two teams of four. Derek, Stiles, and Laura were one team and the triplets were the other team of three. That left Erica, Jace, Isaac, and Jamie as one team of four and Norman, Boyd, Alicia, and Nancy as the other. Derek was a little confused as to how Nancy would participate, since she didn’t have a werewolf’s sense of smell.

“Maybe she’ll help in the next challenge,” Stiles said, as if he could read Derek’s mind.

“Probably,” Derek agreed.

Next, the Alphas took the bags with their scent clues and handed them out to each team, with instructions not to open them until they gave the signal. Peter handed their bag to Derek. It was plastic Ziploc bag, and it felt like there was something hard and lumpy, like a root, inside but the plastic was too dark to see through.

“So, is this the challenge that you designed?” Stiles asked of Peter. “Cause, if so, I gotta tell you I’m a little disappointed. I thought you were much more devious than this.”

“No,” Peter laughed. “If this had been my challenge, then you would have had to track a live target.”

“That doesn’t seem so hard—”

“Blindfolded,” Peter grinned.

“Now that’s the devious Uncle Peter I know,” Laura beamed.

“Luckily for you, Bryan and Sophia voted down,” Peter added ruefully. “Something about unrealistic expectations and possible dangers. Frankly, I think that only would have added to the fun.”

“You must be a blast at children’s parties,” Stiles snarked.

“You have no idea,” Laura deadpanned.

“Is everyone ready,” Bryan called out.

Instantly, Stiles and Laura were crowding at his sides, to make sure that they could get a good whiff, when he opened it.

“BEGIN!” the Alphas shouted together.

Without a thought, Derek popped open their bag and the strong scent of ginger assaulted his nose.

“This shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Stiles smirked.

All around them, the other teams were already rushing into the woods.

“Let’s go,” Stiles urged excitedly, practically hopping up and down. Derek was all set to follow his lead, when Laura put a hand on his arm.

“Wait, let’s be smart about this,” Laura rationalized. “Everyone else is running off in their groups, but we’ll cover more ground if we split up. We’ll each take a different direction and the first person who comes across our scent trail will howl for the other two.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous,” Derek argued, not liking any plan that separated him from Stiles, especially when Jace was somewhere in those woods. “What if we run into one of the other teams without backup?”

“This challenged is about how fast we find out target, not taking out our opponents,” Laura pointed out. “The other teams will be too focused on trying to find their own targets to worry about attacking us.”

“I’m with Laura,” Stiles nodded. “We split up and then regroup when one of us finds the scent.”

“I don’t know,” he hesitated.

“Ugh, come one Derek,” Stiles pleaded, those warm honey eyes cutting right through him. “We’re wasting time. We’ll be fine. And, if anything does happen, we’ll howl for help.”

“Fine,” he gave in.

“All right, I’ll go north,” Laura decided. “Stiles can go ea—”

“West, I’ll go east,” he cut in.

He’d seen Jace’s team going east and he wanted to make sure that, if Stiles had to go off on his own, than at least Derek could send him the opposite direction as Jace.

“Works for me,” Stiles said and shot off into the woods.

Laura rolled her eyes at him and then she also took off into the woods. Derek waited until he could no longer see her and then started in his own direction, at a brisk pace. Once he was far enough away from the mingled scents of three different packs, he stopped and shifted into his Beta form. Then, crouching down low, he inhaled deeply through his nose, taking in all the myriad of scents surrounding him.

Taking another deep breath, he savored the new, yet familiar scents. All forests were different and the same all at once. Like chocolate chip cookies made by two different people, they possessed all the same ingredients but they varied in the proportions and combinations, or cooked them at different temperatures for different amounts of time.

This forest had all the same elements of their territory back home. There was the usual grass, pine needles, and other general woodsy smells. But Derek was keenly aware of how the quantities and combinations were all distorted from what he was used to.

There were also the faintest notes of other foreign scents; scents that wouldn’t naturally be in a forest like this. There was the scent of lemon, coffee, cinnamon, and several others. None of them were ginger, though.

_The other scent trails the Alphas laid down yesterday._

He was about to dismiss them, when a thought popped into his head.

The Alphas had said that all the scent trails overlapped with each other. So, instead of avoiding the other scent trails, why not follow one and see if it overlapped with his at any point.

Going off this train of thought, he picked of the scent trails and random and started following it in the direction leading away from the clearing. He followed it for some distance, all the while growing more and more anxious that he hadn’t heard anything from Stiles or Laura yet. He was just about to give up this plan and maybe try following a different scent trail for, when he smelled it; the faintest hint of ginger. Not three feet away from him, the scent trail he’d been following intersected with one of ginger.

Throwing his head back, he gave a triumphant howl to call Stiles and Laura to him. He didn’t have long to wait. Not even five minutes after he’d called to them, Stiles came bursting through the trees. He nearly toppled Derek over in his mad dash to get to him. A few minutes later, Laura joined them.

“Good going, little brother,” Laura cheered, after he’d told them how he found it. “I would have never thought of that.”

“Let’s hope no one else did either,” Stiles grinned. “Now the only question is, which direction do we follow the trail?”

“Both,” Laura decided. “You and Derek follow the trail that way and I’ll go this way. We’ll double back and regroup if one of ours leads back to the clearing or a dead end.”

Without waiting to see if they agreed, she took off in her direction.

He bit back a growl as he watched her go. They were suppose to stick together, now that he’d found the trail.

“Come on, Sourwolf, she’ll be fine,” Stiles assured him with a friendly punch in the arm. “And we have a challenge to win.”

Reluctantly, he let Stiles lead him away. Following the trail proved more difficult that the last one he’d been following. It wound back and forth and looped around itself. They lost it completely at one point, when it intersected with several other sent trails, but, between the two of them, they were able to pick it up again.

Laura rejoined them about an hour later. Her end of the trail turned out to be a false one that just circled around on itself. Things went much faster after that.

Their trail eventually led them directly to a giant old tree stump in a small glade. It was a good ten feet tall and still standing upright, despite the fact that it was rotting and looked to be hollow inside.

The entire glade smelled of ginger.

“Ten bucks says the box is in the tree,” Stiles wagered.

“We should at least check around the roots as well,” Laura said.

“You two look around the roots, I’ll check inside,” Stiles said confidently.

Stiles extended his claws, jump halfway up the up the tree stump, and began climbing.

“Be careful Stiles,” Derek cautioned. “That thing doesn’t exactly look structurally sound.”

“It’s fine, this old beauty’s got a few more years left in her—AHHH!” Stiles screamed, as the section he was clinging to collapsed inward, taking Stiles with it. He heard Stiles fall with a sickening thud, as his heart flew into his throat.

“STILES!” he yelled in alarm, rushing towards the tree stump.

“I’m okay,” Stiles’ voice echoed weakly from inside the tree stump. “The stupid box broke my fall.”

“Stiles, get out of there right now,” Laura ordered, concern stealing the harshness out of her words.

“I’m fine guys, really,” Stiles assured them, as his head popped up over the edge of the tree stump, bits of moss and rotted wood sticking in his hair. “Here, catch.”

Stiles swung a small navy blue plastic bin over the edge towards them. It was like one of those cheap storage containers you could buy at any supermarket, only much smaller. He could feel at least two things rattling around inside as he caught it.

“So much for having a late lunch,” Stiles boasted, as he slid down the rest of the way. “It’s not even noon yet.”

Derek could care less about lunch or this stupid challenge at the moment. He quickly handed off the box to Laura and went over to Stiles. As soon as Stiles’ feet hit the ground, Derek was on him brushing all the dirt, moss, and who knows what else off his back and legs. He was also subtly checking to see that Stiles wasn’t injured. Sure, Stiles was a werewolf and would heal in seconds, but that didn’t mean that Derek liked seeing him hurt.

“I think we should open it first,” Laura advised. “It would be just like Peter to plant a few red herrings around the woods in a competition like this.”

“Ah crap!” Stiles exclaimed. “He would, wouldn’t he.”

They crowded in close, as Laura popped open the lid of the box. Inside, there was a cheap disposable cell phone and a familiar looking dark plastic bag.

Laura picked up the phone and flipped it open. There was a preset number already programmed in and ready to call. Hitting the send button, they only had to wait for it to ring once before Peter answered.

“Congratulations, you found the first trade off,” Peter said.

“First,” Stiles repeated. “As in more than one.”

“We couldn’t make it too easy on you, now could we,” Peter enthused. “Though, I’m quite proud that you three were the first ones to report in. None of the other teams have found their first one yet. I just won a tidy little sum from some new friends in the Reyes Pack, because of you.”

“You’re betting on us,” Laura scoffed. “What am I thinking; of course you’re betting on us.”

“How many more do we have to find,” Derek asked.

“Two more,” Peter answered. “But I would hurry, if I were you. The next two will be even harder to find and the other teams probably aren’t that far behind you. Happy hunting.”

“We really should have seen that coming,” Stiles said.

Derek and Laura nodded in agreement. Peter would have supported something simple. Derek was glad for that. His wolf wanted a real competition and now he had it.

The game was only just beginning.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can see a picture that inspired the tree that Stiles climbs into here  
> http://luminescentlily.tumblr.com/post/67398939216
> 
> Next up, more of the competition as well as another heated talk between Jace and Derek.
> 
> Comments and critiques equal love, so please don't be shy to tell me what you think. Or you can follow me on tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed but I had a horrible stomach bug that really cut into my writing and editing time yesterday. 
> 
> Also, there's a part near the end that mentions Stiles having longer hair when he was little. I found a bunch of picture of Dylan O'Brien when he was younger on tumblr that you can see here:  
> http://luminescentlily.tumblr.com/post/66752494241/itsgottabenowornever  
> For what I'm talking about in my story, I picture him like he is in the ones on the right of the second row.

 

 

***Stiles***

They had the dark little plastic bag open as soon as Peter hung up. The soft, clean scent of baby powder managed to reach their noses, even over the all encompassing smell of ginger surrounding them.

“All right, we’ll repeat our original plan of splitting up to cover more ground,” Laura said decisively, an ambitious gleam in her eyes.

Stiles saw the pout forming on Derek’s face and had to suppress a laugh. It was kind of adorable, how protective Derek was, even here where they really had nothing to worry about. In his opinion, that level of caring and loyalty was one of Derek’s best qualities, even if he did go a little overboard sometimes. He could tell that Derek was about to argue with Laura’s decision, wasting precious time. Luckily, Stiles had another solution.

“That won’t be necessary,” Stiles cut in, brushing more dirt from his arm. “I remember smelling baby powder the first time we split up. I know exactly where to start for this next scent trail.”

He watched Derek’s shoulders relax slightly in relief. Butterflies filled his stomach at knowing that he made Derek feel a little better.

“Lead the way then,” Laura commanded.

They set off at a swift pace, Stiles at the lead; towards the area he remembered smelling baby powder. Soon they reached the general area where he’d smelled it. They fanned out to try and get a better lock on it.

He spotted an odd looking tree that he definitely remembered passing by earlier and tried to retrace his steps. While he sniffed around, he couldn’t stop help carding his fingers threw his hair and brushing his arms. He was fairly certain he’d removed all the dirt and debris from his mishap with the tree, but he couldn’t fight the phantom sensations of bugs crawling on him. His mind kept having flashbacks to that episode of the Magic School Bus, where they go inside a decaying log and see all the bugs and organisms that lived inside it.

_Yeah, definitely taking another shower when this is over._

“I’ve got it,” Derek called out.

And just like that, they were on the hunt again.

Following this scent trail was even trickier that the first. The trail itself was much fainter than the first and Stiles thought the Alphas had done that intentionally. Then there was the fact that in addition to all the other scent trails, everything was muddied further by the overlapping scents of the other teams as well.

“So, are either of you two curious as to how the Alphas laid down all these scent trails without leaving their scent everywhere?” Stiles asked as they were spread out, trying to pick of the trail again, after losing it in particularly large intersection of scent trails. “I mean, I don’t smell them anywhere, like, at all.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” Derek admitted, looking thoughtful.

“Alphas have a way of masking their scent, when they need to, but I think Tawiyela might have had something to do with it as well,” Laura answered, not looking up from her search. “There’s all kinds of stuff like that Emissaries can do.”

Not for the first time, Stiles wondered what it would be like to be an Emissary instead of a werewolf. Being a werewolf was incredible and Stiles wouldn’t trade it for the world, but he had to admit that being an Emissary sounded kind of badass.

_Nancy said that Tawiyela thought I might have a spark. I gotta remember to asker more about that, later._

“I found it!” Laura shouted, and they were off again.

The found the second box not long after. This time it was resting up on a tree branch. Inside were another disposable cell phone and another Ziploc bag. They made the call, only to be informed that another team had beat them to finding the second target and that the others probably weren’t far behind.

Stiles wasn’t entirely certain that Peter was telling the truth. It was harder to tell if someone was lying over the phone and Stiles wouldn’t put it past Peter to say that just to give them a little extra incentive. Either way it lit a fire under them and they strove even harder.

With so many overlapping scents, the trails became nearly impossible to keep straight. They never ran into the any of the other teams but they could smell them everywhere. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it seemed like every few feet the trails would split off into false trails and dead ends.

It was difficult but exhilarating at the same time. Stiles was naturally inquisitive and loved a good challenge. Add on to that the fact that this challenge spoke to primal instinct in his wolf and this was probably the most fun he’d had in years. He knew Derek and Laura felt the same way; could see it in their faces. Even when they were frustrated at losing the trail, there was an excitement and joy about their faces.

Derek was particularly impressive, in Stiles’ opinion. More often than not, it would be Derek who would find the trail again, after they lost it.

_Not really surprising, considering Derek’s spent years patrolling our territory nearly every day, looking for threats._

It was pretty cool to watch, the way he would crouch down and breathe deep, a look of deep concentration etched onto his wolfy features. Stiles could almost see the wheels turning in his mind, analyzing and categorizing all the different scents he took in. He didn’t know how but he found it to be both adorable and sexy.

 _Probably not where your mind should be going right now Stilinski._ He chided himself.

They were on their fourth scent trail, a very delicate lilac perfume, when they hit the mother of all obstacles. Looking back, they probably should have suspected something was going to happen. They had been running along their trail for a fairly long stretch on a mostly straight path, when all of the sudden, they were nearly paralyzed by the overwhelming smell of bleach.

There are a lot of scents that get on a werewolf’s nerves, but none can compare to the smell of bleach. Its sterile, clinical scent obliterated any other scents and really wrecked havoc on their noses.

“Ugh, it’s like hydrochloric acid in my nose,” Stiles groans, pulling his t-shirt up to cover his nose. “How did we not smell this coming?”

“There’s no breeze this deep in the woods,” Laura replied, as they retreated away from the oppressive odor. “Nothing to carry the smell to us, until we were right on top of it.”

“Peter definitely had a hand in this,” Derek added, shaking his head in a very canine-like manner.

“Without a doubt,” Stiles agreed. “This diabolical nastiness has his name written all over it.”

It took them the better part of an hour to pick up the trail again. They had to run around the edge of the bleach area, just far enough to the stench wouldn’t impair their ability to pick up the trail but close enough to make sure they got back on the right track. It wasn’t easy but they eventually found the trail again.

Unfortunately, it only seemed to lead them to another dead end at a small stream.

“They used the stream to mask the trail,” Laura said. “Derek, you go upstream, I’ll go downstream, and Stiles, you search the opposite bank to see where the trail comes out again.”

The three of them got to work sniffing up and down each bank to pick up the other end of the scent trail, but it was no use.

“Another dead end,” Laura growled in frustration. “Either that or bleach must have affected our noses more than we thought.”

“But it doesn’t make sense,” Stiles said. “We searched all around that bleached area and this was the only trail leading away from it.”

“We must have missed another branch of the trail before the bleach,” Derek scowled.

“No way, dude,” Stiles argued. “We would have picked up another trail and the scent is so strong over here—”

Stiles stopped talking mid sentence, when a thought popped into his head.

_The scent is strong over here. Very strong._

He dashed to the spot where the scent trail cut off into the water and started splashing around, kicking up sand and pebbles.

“Stiles, what are you doing, besides getting yourself soaked?” Laura asked.

“The scent trail intensifies right here, just like the other trails, when we found each of the boxes,” Stiles explained excitedly, dropping down to his hands and knees to dig through the loose sand. “I think this is where we find the next one. Ten bucks says this one was made the hardest to find because it’s the last one.”

It took a second for Derek and Laura to catch up with what he just said, but one they did they were right next to him, rooting around in the stream.

“I’ve got it!” Derek yelled, as he pulled a familiar looking plastic box out of the water.

He watched Derek rip the box open. This time the only thing they found was a dark Ziploc bag, no phone.

“Knew this would be the last one!” Stiles crowed triumphantly. “Open it!”

Laura grabbed the bag and tore it open. A familiar scent filled their noses. Not a food or a perfume, but a person’s scent. Peter’s scent.

“We have to find Peter somewhere in the woods?” Stiles guessed, scratching his head in confusion.

“No,” Laura explained. “We have to get back to the clearing.”

An instant later, they were running full speed through the forest, back to the clearing. Stiles was running in the lead but Derek and Laura weren’t far behind him. Wind whipped around him, chilling him in his wet clothes. Goosebumps rose up all over his skin but it did nothing to slow him down. Victory was so close, he could almost taste it.

 _It tastes like lunch._ He thought to himself with a laugh, as his stomach growled.

Peter had been right this morning. It was already well past lunch and getting closer to dinner but, up until now, he’d been so caught up in the challenge that he hadn’t even thought about food. Now, it was just even more motivation to get to the finish line.

They were less than a mile from the finish line, when he heard it. The sound of another group running a little bit behind them and to his left. Another team was racing them to the finish line.

He looked back to catch a glimpse of golden curls and strawberry blonde hair.

_Erica’s team._

Either Derek and Laura heard the other team as well or they saw Stiles look over at them, because all three of them picked up their pace. He could see the clearing just a few yards in front of them. With one last push of speed, he burst into the clearing, Derek and Laura right at his heels.

Of course, that would be the moment he tripped over something, stumbling and falling right at Peter’s feet. He looked up to see a wide grin of his Alpha’s face, as Derek grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

“We have our winners!” Peter announced happily.

Erica, Isaac, Jace, and Jamie chose that moment to make their own entrance into the clearing.

“And second place,” Sophia cried out.

There were cheers and congratulations called out, as they caught their breaths. Even for a werewolf, running full speed for a few miles takes its toll.

“Nice landing, son,” his dad laughed, as he came up and patted him on the back.

“Well, you know, I had to throw in a little Stilinski flare,” he shot back weakly, color rising in his cheeks.

“Of course you did,” his dad replied. “But why are you all wet?”

“Blame him,” Stiles said, pointing an accusing finger at Peter. “I’d bet my Jeep that he’d the one who decided to hide our final clue under a stream.”

“Guilty as charged,” Peter smirked. “I have to admit, I was a little worried that the three of you wouldn’t realize the stream was the end of the trail, but you figured it out.

“Stiles figured it out,” Derek corrected. “Laura and I were ready to turn back and look for another trail.”

“Well, at least your last box was hidden in clean water,” Erica called out, as she and her team approached. “Ours was hidden in a mud wallow.”

Now that he wasn’t trying to outrun them and could look at them properly, Stiles noticed that all four of them were covered in mud and twigs. He also felt Derek move closer to his side, as the others approached.

“It was a small pond yesterday, I assure you,” Sophia said. “It must have dried out overnight.”

“A pond would have been just as bad,” Erica said, brushing dried bud off her arms. “I would have loved a nice, clean stream.”

“Well, did you run through an area drenched in bleach?” Stiles shot back.

“No, thank God,” Erica cringed in sympathy, and then it turned into a genuine smile. “Nice job.”

She held out her hand to Laura, who shook it without hesitation.

“You as well,” Laura replied. “You’re team nearly beat us. It was a close one.”

Both teams shook hands and congratulated each other. They may be in competition with each other, but they were all here to make friends. Stiles saw Derek hesitate slightly, before shaking Jace’s hand but quickly forgot it when Jace went to shake his hand.

“The wet look suits you,” Jace winked, looking him up and down.

He heard a low growl from Derek but he was more concerned with chocked cough coming from his dad.

“Yeah, I guess, I just—oh look, there’s the Clarke Pack team,” he said, pulling his hand back and pointing to where Norman, Nancy, Boyd, and Alicia were emerging from the woods. They were closely followed by the triplets.

After that, there was a lot more handshakes and congratulations going around. It turned out that Stiles wasn’t the only one who was starving, as several stomachs could be heard growling. There were informed that the winning team’s prize was to be served lunch first, once they reached the Reyes Cabin where the food was all set up and waiting. The Alphas—who had already had lunch—stayed behind to go and collect all the plastic box and disposable phones.

Peter had planned ahead and there was a change of dry clothes waiting for them, which they quickly changed into and helped themselves to the large buffet of food. The three of them filled up their plates and found a nice place outside to enjoy their food. They were soon joined by everyone else.

As they all ate, everyone talked about what had happened during the challenge. Erica told a more in-depth version of how they had to search through a giant mud puddle for their final clue, while Laura told everyone about how Stiles had fallen into the tree stump. It turned out that the triplet had also run into the bleach like they had and that was what had majorly slowed them down.

Everyone admired Laura’s original strategy of splitting up to find the scent trail. Norman boasted how he was the one to find all their scent trails and Boyd grudgingly admitted that Norman was the best tracker of the Clarke Pack, though Nancy was actually the best at finding where the boxes were hidden, when they got to the end of the trails.

Eventually the conversation turned to other topics and the subject of what everyone was studying or had studied at college.

“You’re going to Berkeley, aren’t you Stiles,” Nancy asked.

“Yeah, I’m actually starting my sophomore year in a few weeks,” Stiles said modestly. “I just decided on my major too. I’m looking into getting a degree in Information Sciences.”

“What’s that?” Isaac asked curiously.

“Research,” Stiles announced happily. “I love finding out everything about everything, so this is kind of perfect for me. Apparently, there are a ton of fields that require”

“I can see that,” Jace said thoughtfully. “You have an inquisitive mind.”

“Thanks,” Stiles smiled. “So, what are you studying?”

“Molecular Biology,” Jace stated proudly.

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive,” Stiles admitted. “Where are you going for that?”

“I’m doing my undergrad work at Portland State University but I was planning on transferring somewhere else for my graduate degree.

“Any idea where?” Laura asked.

“Well, there’s Stanford and Harvard, obviously,” Jace said just a little too arrogantly Stiles thought.

_Then again, if I was that smart, I’d be a little arrogant about it too._

“But I’ve also been looking into Cal Tech,” Jace continued. “It’s closer, yet still has a great reputation.”

“Yeah, Cal Tech’s a great school,” Stiles agreed. “My friend, Lydia, goes there. It’s only a couple hours drive away from me at Berkeley,”

“One more point in its favor,” Jace said smoothly.

“So, uh, what made you want to study Molecular Biology?” Stiles blushed and tried to get back to the conversation. “That’s kind of an intense field for someone to choose.”

“Honestly, I want to find out how I exist,” Jace declared grandiosely, then elaborated, when his pronouncement was greeted with blank stares. “Werewolves have always been thought of as magic and therefore a complete mystery to modern science. I want to know if there’s a scientific explanation for what we are.”

 “You want to experiment on werewolves,” Derek accused and a cold shiver ran down Stiles’ spine.

 “I want to _study myself_ ,” Jace countered “I want to look at my own cells and find out how we do the things that we can do.”

Ever since becoming a werewolf, one Stiles’ biggest fears was that some government agency would discover his existence and take him back to some lab to experiment on. Objectively, he knew that wasn’t anything close to what Jace was talking about, but it still struck a nerve. For Derek too, it seemed.

“We known how we do what we can do,” Derek countered.

“Yes, the great moon goddess blessed her children and gave us her special gifts,” Jace sneered mockingly. “But aside from the fairy tales, there are real answers in our own DNA. Frankly, I find it hard to believe that you of all people would find that strange.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Derek said defensively.

“Your Alpha has been experimenting with finding a wolfsbane antidote for years—”

“Well, that’s not exactly—” Stiles stared but was cut off by Derek.

“He’s been testing plants, not us,” Derek snarled.

“And what if I could do what he can’t?” Jace boasted. “What if, instead of finding some magic potion to drink if we’re ever poisoned, I could create a vaccine or a gene therapy that would permanently immunize us to the affects of aconite?”

“And how many of us could die in failed attempts,” Derek asked coldly.

“It’s not like I’m anywhere near a breakthrough,” Jace backpedalled. “For now I’m just looking a blood samples. I’m years, maybe even decades, away from anything major.”

“You still didn’t answer the question,” Derek pointed out.

“Derek, drop it,” Laura ordered sternly.

“Fine,” Derek said and got up and stalked off into the woods.

“I’ll go after him,” Stiles said already getting to his feet.

Laura just nodded.

He found Derek a few minutes later, not far into the tree line.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey,” Derek returned tensely.

“Wanna tell me what that was all about?” Stiles asked.

“I just don’t like the idea of him strapping werewolves down to a table and—

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Stiles held his hands up. “He never said anything about strapping people down to tables. He was talking about looking at a few blood cells under a microscope. And it’s not like he going to go all Dr. Mengele on us.”

“Because you know him so well after just a few days,” Derek huffed.

“What’s that suppose to mean,” Stiles asked.

“Nothing,” Derek grunted.

“Hey, what’s your problem?” Stiles asked getting angry. “Seriously.”

“Nothing,” Derek sighed. “I just don’t like him. He’s arrogant and he’s disrespectful of our traditions.”

“So, you’re really just miffed that he said that stuff about the Moon Goddess,” Stiles tied to understand.

“I’m not some child, Stiles,” Derek denied. “I know that the stories my parents told me, when I was younger, were just that, stories. I know that the moon is just a rock floating up there in space, it’s just…”

“It’s just that he was so flippant about it,” Stiles said in understanding. “Those were stories passed down by your family, your traditions and you history, and, when he made fun of them, it was like he was insulting your family.”

“It’s stupid,” Derek sighed.

“No it’s not,” Stiles uttered softly.

They were silent for a moment.

“Did I ever tell you why I used to buzz cut my hair?” Stiles finally spoke up.

Derek shook his head.

“When I was little, my mother used to tell me stories that her family had passed down,” he began. “My favorite was the one about the domowik. They were these guardian spirits, like brownies or house elves. They were small and hairy—like Cousin It level hairy—and they lived under the stove and protected the house and those who lived inside it. Sometimes they would even help with your chores, if you were nice to them and left them some food. I used to try and find the one in our house. I would tiptoe around the house trying to sneak up on it.”

He smiled at the memory of his younger self, tip-toeing around corners in his pajamas to try and catch the magical little hairy man in his house.

“After a while, I told my mom that we didn’t have one in our house, because I left out a piece of bread for it once and it didn’t clean my room for me,” he continued. “She just laughed and said that I would have to her domowik instead and help her with the housework. I used to love doing things around the house with her. I even insisted on growing my hair out long. At school, some of the kids used to tease me about my hair and how I always helped the teacher clean up. I told them about the domowik and that just made them tease me even worse. But the more they teased me, the more I wanted to believe in them.”

“Then she got sick,” he explained, his voice turning brittle. “And she couldn’t do as many things around the house as she used to. So, I tried to help but I usually ended up making a mess of things. She would always just laugh and tell me what a good domowik I made. After she died, I was angry. I was angry that I couldn’t protect my mother, angry that a real domowik hadn’t saved her. I buzzed off all my hair and stopped cleaning altogether. It wasn’t until my dad had his heart scare that I snapped out of it.”

“I never realized that that was why you always try and take such good care of your dad and his house,” Derek said softly.

“Yeah,” he said rubbing the back of his neck. “But, what I’m trying to say is, I know what it’s like to want to hold onto the stories that your family passed down. Because it was a way of keeping their memory alive. That’s why you got so pissed at Jace, wasn’t it?”

“That’s part of the reason,” Derek admitted. “It’s just—”

“Hey, you two,” Erica called out at the edge of the tree line. “If you’re done kissing and making up, the elders are about to start.

“I guess we should head back,” Stiles said. “Were you about to say something?”

“It’s nothing,” Derek shook his head and started back toward the others.

When they got back to the cabin, everyone else was already spread out around a large fire that. They quickly found a spot next to Laura—and far away from Jace—and settled in to listen. They didn’t have to wait long. Just like last night, the three eldest werewolves came closer to the fire and called for everyone’s attention. But unlike last night, Tawiyela also joined them.

“Last night we told you of our Mother Moon and her first children,” Olivia Reyes began in her low, clear voice. “Tonight we speak of those who came afterwards. Many great peoples claim to be descendants from wolves, and these we tell you of now.”

“The earliest of these origin myths come from the Mongolian and Turkic people,” Adam took over. “In Mongolian mythology, the Mongol race is believed to be descendant from the mating of a grey wolf and a fallow deer. Genghis Khan, the man who united the Mongolian tribes and conquered Asia, was said to have taken the wolf as the symbol of his tribe. Then there is the origin legend of the Turkic people. Long ago, in a small Turkic village was raided by Chinese soldiers. The soldiers killed everyone in the village, except for one infant boy, who was hidden away when the solders came. Left all alone, the small boy’s cries echoed through the mountains, until he was found by Asena, a breathtakingly beautiful she-wolf with a sky blue mane and eyes like stars. Asena took pity on the baby and nursed him. Later she bore him ten children, who were half-wolf, half-human. It was these children and their children and their children’s children who would later become the Turkic people. One of these children in particular, was named Ashina, and would go on to found the powerful ruling Ashina Clan.”

 _Little bit of an Oedipus complex there._ Stiles thought, slightly grossed out at the thought of being raised by a wolf and then having sex with it, but there were nastier things in mythology than that.

“Another similar myth comes from the Great Roman Empire,” Amanda continued. “The story of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. In Roman Mythology the mother of Romulus and Remus was a princess named Rhea Silvia. Her wicked uncle, Amulius, killed her father, the king, and all his male heirs. Rhea Silvia was then forced to become a Vestal Virgin.”

“A what?” Isaac whispered off to his right.

“An ancient Roman nun,” Stiles whispered back.

“Mars, the Roman god of war seduced Rhea Silvia and got her pregnant with twin boys,” Amanda went on. “When Amulius found out he condemned the infants to die by leaving them out in the wild near the river Tiber. But they didn’t die because Lupa, the great she-wolf, found them. She suckled them and raised them as her own cubs, until a shepherd and his wife found them and raised them to manhood. When they learned the truth of their birth, they slew their wicked uncle Amulius and founded the city that would later become the great Roman Empire.”

 _She conveniently left out the part where Romulus killed Remus to get all the credit._ Stiles thought. _But then again these stories aren’t really supposed to be about the people._

“For hundreds of years after that, the ancient Romans celebrated Lupercalia, a festival honoring Lupa, the female wolf, who nursed Romulus and Remus. There are even a few of our kind in Italy who still celebrate it to this day.”

There was a brief silence where Stiles thought that the stories might be over—they had already told more than they had the first night. That was when Tawiyela started to speak. Stiles had nearly forgotten that she was even there.

“Wolves have meant many things to many peoples over the centuries,” Tawiyela spoke in her husky voice had an almost hypnotic affect. “To some, they are enemies but to my tribe they have always been friends. There is a tale among the Lakota, of a woman of our tribe who lived long ago. She was injured while traveling and found by a wolf pack. Instead of killing her, the wolves brought her back to their den and cared for her. She spent the winter with them, healing and learning their ways. When spring came, she returned to her people with all the knowledge the wolves had taught her. Most importantly, she taught her people how to hunt together to take down large prey, so that there was enough food for everyone. Because of that, my people have always admired the skill and courage of the wolf.”

With a final few words, they wrapped up their tales and wished everyone a good night. Stiles didn’t realize just how tired he was until that moment. With all the running around he’d done that day and all the food he’d eaten, he was more than ready to go to bed. Everyone else was pretty much the same. They all said their goodnights and piled into their cars.

He fell asleep on Derek’s shoulder before they were even halfway back to their cabin.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it. This chapter was really tough to write and I think I'm starting to get a little burnt out with this story, so I'm going to take a very very tiny break from it to work on my commissions from the Sterek Campaign Charity Auction. Don't worry, I won't be gone for long and I will finish this story. There's nothing that bugs me more that a story that is left unfinished.
> 
> As always, comments and critiques are always welcome and encouraged.  
> And you can always find me at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone so long, but I'm back now! I plan on posting a new chapter every Monday but I can't guarantee I'll always succeed in that deadline. Also, I'm still getting back into the swing of this story, so if this chapter feels a little off compared to the others, that's probably why. I hope you guys like it.

 

 

***Stiles***

For the third morning in a row, Stiles awoke to an empty bed.

He didn’t know if he was more grateful or disappointed by that. On the one hand, he didn’t have to worry about any awkward morning wood or accidental cuddling moments but, on the other hand, it would be nice to wake up next to Derek just once.

Then again, sharing a bed with Derek wasn’t exactly helping him get over the guy. Lying there in sheets that smelled of both their scents mixed together so perfectly just made it that much harder to even picture being with anyone else.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he dragged himself out of the comfy bed and threw on a shirt. Walking out into the kitchen, he saw that Laura was the one making breakfast this morning.

_If this pattern keeps up, I might have to wake up earlier sometime this week to cook for everyone._

Not that waking up earlier would be a problem within the next couple of days. With the full moon approaching—and the perigee moon at that—Stiles was practically bouncing off the walls with pent up energy.

 _That’s probably why the Alphas thought up the challenges in the first place._ He thought. _Having us run around and use up some of this excess jitteriness is the only way to keep us from going insane._

_Speaking of running around._

“So, is Derek out on a run again?” Stiles inquired, looking around for him.

“Yes,” Laura confirmed crossly, as she zipped around the kitchen with even more energy than usual. “He was up before dawn. His stomping around woke me up. And, of course, once I was awake, I couldn’t go back to sleep.”

_And there’s the other side effect of the impending full moon._

Emotions always ran high around a full moon but the perigee was the worst. This was only the second one that Stiles had ever experienced and the first one hadn’t really enamored him to the prospect of another one. It had been only a few months after he was first bitten and he had only just started to get to know his pack. Even with his impressive level of control, he had still had to stay home from school for a few days or he probably would have ripped Jackson’s throat out the second that jerk opened his mouth.

He had better control now, but even born wolves like Laura would be on edge this close to the full moon. Stiles thought that he would be better this time around—and he was—but he found himself falling back into old nervous habits. He didn’t even realize that he was bouncing his knee like he used to until Laura asked him to stop it.

 _And we have three whole packs here._ He thought with a touch of terror. _Today’s challenge is definitely going to be interesting._

 

Derek returned just as everyone was sitting down to eat. Luckily, food was an excellent distraction and it allowed Stiles to—mostly—keep his mind off of Derek’s glistening, sweaty torso. Once the food was gone, Stiles fell back on best defense mechanism, talking. He started badgering Peter with questions about the next challenge and tried to wheedle a few hints out of his Alpha. Peter seemed to be having an easier time with the full moon, and deftly answered all of Stiles questions without revealing a thing, much to Stiles’ annoyance.

They made short work of breakfast, all of them anxious to head out for the next event. Stiles could barely sit still for even the short ride to the same clearing as yesterday and he definitely couldn’t keep his mouth shut. It got so bad that even Peter was snapping at him to be quiet. They all breathed a sigh of relief, when they finally parked the car and they could escape Stiles’ inane chattering.

Unlike yesterday, today it appeared that they were the last ones to arrive. Walking into the clearing, Stiles could see that he wasn’t the only one affected by the moon. All the werewolves, especially the younger ones, were practically vibrating with excitement. Unfortunately, it also meant that tempers were running high as well. It seemed like everywhere he looked everyone was fidgety and anxious. Little Jamie was pacing back and forth and actually growled at his mother, when she told him to be patient.

Isaac on the other hand, was doing pretty well. Stiles had been a little concerned, given what he learned about the other wolf’s control issues. Isaac was sitting on the ground, fiddling with his moonstone necklace. His eyes were closed like he was concentrating on something, or maybe meditating.

“It’s about time,” Erica yelled, when she spotted them first.

“Never heard about being fashionably late, Catwoman?” Stiles quipped. “Besides, I was in bed, catching up on my beauty sleep.”

“I’d be more forgiving, if you’d been doing something a little more interesting in bed than just sleeping,” Erica retorted.

Her remark caused him to turn beat red and he struggled to try and think of a witty comeback. Erica just smirked triumphantly as they took their place in the clearing. Things progressed faster than yesterday. The three Alphas gathered in the middle of the clearing again to address the packs.

“Yesterday, you competed in the vital skill of tracking, but finding your prey is just the first step of the hunt,” Alpha Bryan started. “In the wild, most of the prey animals move in herds. As great as wolves are as hunter, even a pack of wolves can’t take on an entire herd.”

“Learning how to cull a single animal from a herd is crucial to the success of the hunt,” Alpha Sophia took over. “It is a task that requires not only cunning but teamwork as well.”

“For your second challenge, two of the teams here will play a ‘herd’ and the other two will be the ‘packs’,” Peter explained. As he talked, Peter pulled out two flag belts—the kind used in flag football—and showed them to everyone. “One member of the ‘herd’ team will wear this belt with the attached flag. The object of the challenge is for the ‘pack’ team to capture the ‘herd’s’ flag, while the ‘herd’ tries to evade them. The two ‘herds’ will have a fifteen minute head start into the woods, before their opposing teams come after them, and then the two ‘packs’ will have two hours to try and capture the other team’s flag. If a ‘pack’ manages to obtain a ‘herd’s’ flag within those two hours, then the ‘herd’ will become the ‘pack’ and have to try and recapture their flag. The winner is whichever team has the flag at the end of the two hours.”

“How will we know when time’s up?” Stiles asked.

“When the two hour mark is reached, Bryan, Sophia, and I will howl to let you know,” Peter answered.

“How do you decide which team will be the ‘pack’ or the ‘herd’?” Norman asked.

“A coin toss,” Bryan replied.

“How many round will there be?” Gemma asked.

“Two,” Sophia answered. “The first round your teams will be pared off randomly. For the second round, the two winning teams from the previous round will be pared off with each other as will the two remaining teams. Also, the designations will be switch. For example, if a team started out as a ‘herd’ for the first round, they will start the second round as a ‘pack’. If the two teams that face each other in the second round were both ‘herds’ in the first, then there will be another coin toss to determine which teams will be what.”

“Any more questions?” Peter inquired.

Stiles let his gaze wander around the clearing and it looked like everyone was good.

“How far are we allowed to go to get another team’s flag,” Jace spoke up.

Sophia and Bryan looked taken aback at the question and even Peter arched and eyebrow at him.

“We would prefer it if you tried not to seriously injure each other,” Sophia answered. “We understand how you’re all feeling with the full moon so close, but we hoped that you’d used your wits for this challenge.”

“There will be plenty of time for more intense direct competition tomorrow,” Bryan assured them.

After that, things progressed quickly. The teams were pared up and the coin tosses were done to see which team would be the ‘packs’ and which would be the ‘herds’. Stiles, Laura, and Derek ended up pared against Norman, Nancy, Boyd, and Alicia. The results of the coin toss determined that their team would start off as the ‘pack’.

“I kinda wish we’d been the ‘herd’,” Stiles commented as they watched their opponents disappear into the woods. “I think it’d be easier to protect the flag than to take it from another team, especially since the other team has more members than we do.”

“You’re right,” Derek agreed. “But, it means we’ll have the advantage in the next round.”

“So, what’s the plan of attack?” Stiles asked. “How’re we gettin’ that flag?”

“First we need to know who will be wearing it,” Laura stated. “Did either of you see who put the flag belt on?”

“No,” Stiles admitted.

“Norman was holding it as they went in the woods but I think that Nancy or Alicia will be the one wearing it.”

“Makes sense,” Stiles concurred. “Nancy is human, so the other three could focus on protecting her, but Alicia is the fastest.”

“They have us at a disadvantage,” Laura said. “We can’t just each take one, because there are more of them than us. We have to get creative.”

“Norman will be expecting a direct attack,” Derek said.

“Yeah, but Boyd and Nancy are smarter than that,” Laura countered.

“Don’t leave out Alicia,” Stiles added. “Remember how crafty she was, when we were playing football the other day?”

They continued strategizing, until the Alpha’s declared that the fifteen minutes were up and they could go after their prey. They shot off into the forest and immediately picked up the other team’s scent. Tracking might have been yesterday’s challenge but they needed it for this one too.

When the scent trail started getting fresher about an hour later, they knew they were getting close. Slowing down, they concentrated on their hearing to try and locate their opponents. They had come up with a number of different plans but they all hinged on who was wearing the flag belt.

The next half hour was trickier. The other team was apparently using the stream from yesterday to mask their sent trail. It would end right at the river’s edge and then reappear a few feet down on the opposite side. The scent trail zigzagged back and forth across the steam numerous times. Eventually they started getting even closer, when the other team apparently split up. Boyd’s scent went one way, Alicia’s went another, and Norman and Nancy went a third.

“Nancy has to have the flag,” Derek said confidently. “Norman would never let it out of his sight but he’s smart enough to know that he can’t wear it so that he can better protect it.”

“I think Sourwolf’s right,” Stiles agreed.

“All right, we go after Norman and Nancy,” Laura said. “But be careful, Boyd and Alicia might not be far.”

Derek was right. Nancy had the flag. They saw it when they caught up with them a few minutes later. Nancy had the flag belt rapped around her waist and Norman was carrying her piggyback. Norman was considerably slowed thanks to Nancy’s weight and the three of them were able to flank. Unfortunately, the other team seemed to be expecting that and, before they could make a move on Nancy, Boyd and Alicia burst out of the trees.

Laura continued on after Norman and Nancy, while Derek and Stiles fell back to deal with Boyd and Alicia. They were at a disadvantage. Stiles’ edge in a fight was his speed and Derek’s was his strength. However, Alicia was faster than Stiles and Boyd was much stronger than Derek. They’d realized this, before they even went into the woods, and had planned accordingly. Instead of Derek facing Boyd and Stiles going up against Alicia, they switched it up. Boyd and Alicia were confused to say the least and they pressed that advantage.

Stiles made the first move. He moved in quick, jabbed a quick blow, and then dodged back out of reach before Boyd could land a blow. Stiles kept it up, making Boyd just a little bit more annoyed every time. He could tell that Boyd was starting to get angry by how his eyes would flash every time Stiles danced away, just out of reach. Then Boyd lunged forward, trying to get Stiles and that was what he had been waiting for. When Boyd’s fist swung towards his head, Stiles dropped down to one knee, hooked his arm around Boyd’s ankle, and pulled his leg right out from underneath the mountain of a werewolf.

Boyd when down like a ton of bricks and his head hit the ground with an audible thunk. Taking advantage of Boyd’s momentary disorientation, Stiles flattened his hand and karate chopped Boyd’s throat hard, right on his Adam’s apple. It wouldn’t kill him but, even with his accelerated healing, he would have trouble breathing for a good five minutes.

It was a move he’d learned from Peter. Peter was firm believer that everyone in the pack should learn self-defense and not just rely on his or her werewolf abilities. Add that with Stiles’ idea of taking advantage of Boyd’s temper from the full moon, and taking down Boyd was easy.

“Bet you weren’t expecting me to know how to fight, biiotch,” Stiles gloated.

Once he was finished with Boyd, he looked over to Derek. Alicia seemed to be employing a similar tactic to what Stiles had used, only Derek was prepared for it. He and Derek had spared enough times for Derek to know how to take on a faster opponent. Instead of trying to lash out at Alicia, Derek just kept his guard up and waited for Alicia to slip up. She must have gotten distracted by Stiles taking down her brother, because the next second Derek had Alicia pinned to the ground and unable to move.

Seeing that Derek was fine and not waiting for Boyd to get up, Stiles took off to help Laura with Norman and Nancy. They weren’t too far away. Norman had put Nancy down and was now locked in combat with Laura. Nancy took one look at Stiles and dropped into a defensive stance. She might be human, but Stiles knew better than to underestimate her. He tried to make a grab for the flag a few times but no dice. She was too good for that.

But Stiles was prepared for that. He had watched her at the football game the other day and he was fairly certain he’d discovered her tell. She was pretty good at hiding her body language but her eyes gave her away. Before she faked a move to the right, her eyes always briefly flicked to the left to see if the way was clear. When he saw her flick her eyes to his left, Stiles was prepared. Just like he was expecting, she faked to the right and lunged to the left, making it perfect for Stiles to move with her and grab the flag.

As soon as it was clutched in his hand, he turned on his heel and took off into the woods. Seconds later, Nancy was yelling to warn her teammates that she’d lost the flag, but he wasn’t worried. Laura would keep Norman busy, Boyd would probably still be down, Derek had Alicia, and there was no way that Nancy could catch up to him. Now he just had to not lose the flag for another few minutes, until he heard the Alphas howl.

It was a good plan, except Derek apparently didn’t have Alicia. Not even a minute after he headed off with the flag, he heard someone closing in on him. It wasn’t a heartbeat he was familiar with but there was only one person who could have caught up with him.

 _Boyd must have recovered faster than I thought._ Stiles thought. _He probably took on Derek so that Alicia could come after me._

Thinking fast, Stiles started winding in and around the trees. Alicia may have been faster than him but only on a straight run. Sharp turns and direction changes would take precious seconds off of any runner’s speed.

Even with his genius plan, Alicia was gaining ground on him. So Stiles doubled his effort. He ran harder and harder, until the muscles in his legs ached and his chest was on fire, and then he ran some more. He was focusing so hard on running that he almost missed the Alphas howls.

He skidded to a halt to hear better, only to be rewarded by Alicia barreling into him, knocking him to the ground.

“Shit! Sorry, I’m so sorry,” Alicia apologized. “I heard the Alphas and then you just stopped.”

“Iss ‘kay,” Stiles panted. “I’m good.”

Alicia got off him an offered him a hand up, but he waived her off and just lay on the ground for a minute to catch his breath. A few minutes later Laura, Derek, Boyd, Norman, and Nancy found them. Stiles just raised the flag in triumph from his place on the ground. He heard Norman start to swear and stomped off back into the woods, Nancy close behind him. Next thing he knew, Laura was hauling him up to his feet and enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug. She released him after a moment, only for Derek to pull him into another hug.

The three of them made their way back to the clearing at a leisurely rate, knowing that everyone would have to wait for them to eat anyways. They reached the clearing not long after the others. Congratulations and Peter’s beaming smile greeted them as soon as they came out from the tree line. Stiles’ dad was a pride filled whoop of delight and his heart swelled.

They turned in their flag to Peter and then everyone started clamoring to talk about the challenge. He found out that Erica’s team had soundly beat the triplets and bet that she loved telling her mother/Alpha all about it. It also meant that they would be up against her team in the next round.

While everyone talked, a few others set up a gigantic picnic lunch. As he continued to tell his dad all the detail of their victory, Stiles proudly pilled his plate with food.

“I would have thought that Peter and the other Alphas would have come up with better prizes than being first to get their food,” his dad mused. “I mean, it’s not like they aren’t all going to get their fair share of food in the end.”

“It’s not really about the food, dad,” Stiles explained. “It’s about the prestige. In real wolf packs in the wild, the Alpha couple always gets to eat first and then everyone else, according to their rank, get whatever’s left. We do the same thing when we hunt in the Preserve. Peter gets first dibs, then Laura, then Derek and me.”

“So, these contests raise up your standing in the literal food chain,” his dad laughed.

“Pretty much,” Stiles shrugged. “By letting us get first pick at the food, even before the Alpha’s, it tells the wolf in us that we’re higher up in the pack hierarchy than the others. It’s a werewolf thing.”

“Speaking of _werewolf things_ , Keriya was just telling me about how werewolves go into heat every year,” his dad said using a hint of his Sheriff voice. “Apparently it even happens to bitten wolves. I thought to myself ‘that can’t be right, Stiles would have mentioned something as important like that to me.’”

Stiles felt his face start to flush and squirmed under his father’s scrutinizing gaze. He nearly dropped his plate of food when his dad said the word ‘heat’ but only just managed to hold onto it.

“Well dad, there’s a funny—”

“Son, I don’t want to know,” his dad rubbed his forehead like he could already feel a headache coming on. “I _really_ don’t want to know. Ever! We clear?”

“Crystal!” Stiles winced.

An awkward silence stretched between them. Having never been comfortable with this kind of silence, Stiles did what he always did in this kind of situations.

“I think I hear Peter calling for me,” he lied. “You know—with my super wolfy hearing. So…I should—I should go.”

In his haste to get away from his dad, he ended up running straight into Jace. He immediately jumped back, only for Jace to take another step forward into his personal space.

“Easy there, killer,” Jace leered. “If you wanted to grind, all you had to do was say so.”

Gulping nervously, he looked around and saw his dad giving him a look.

Jace took another step forward, “We could always take this somewhere a little more private.”

He didn’t know if it was residual embarrassment from his encounter with his dad, and not wanting to compound it with a second, or the full moon making him more on edge than normal, but didn’t want to have

“Whoa, dude! You gotta ease up a little,” Stiles snapped. “You’re hot and smart and funny but you’re giving me a bit of a bad touch vibe with how strong you’re coming on. Plus, you keep flirting with me right in front of my dad! It’s a major turn-off.”

For a second, a look of genuine shock and hurt crossed Jace’s face, only to be replaced by a cool mask of congeniality.

“Sorry about that,” Jace said sincerely. “I’m not used to taking things slow, especially not with a prize like you. Let me make it up to you,” Jace said sweetly. “Eat lunch with me and we can talk. We can get to know one another better.”

Jace’s attitude was still a little more aggressive than Stiles preferred but he did want to at least get to know the guy a little better. If nothing else, it was always good to have more werewolf friends. Plus, he felt a little bad about how harshly he’d snapped at him.

They carried their plates over to a secluded edge of the clearing, away from the others. Stiles saw Derek scowling at the two of them but Laura pulled him away to go and eat with Peter.

_What’s his problem?_

Derek seemed to have had a problem with Jace from day one, though Stiles couldn’t understand why. He would have pondered it further but Jace soon distracted him by starting a real conversation.

Stiles told him more about the Information Sciences degree that he was interested in, and Jace listened politely, if not with any real enthusiasm. In turn, Jace told him more about molecular biology, though Stiles would have preferred if Jace hadn’t explained it to him like he was a five year old, who had never had a single science class in his life. From there, the conversation changed into talk about their hometowns. Jace told him all about Montana and the dense forests he ran through on full moon nights.

Stiles had always pictured Montana to be all open plains and herds of wild horses. He said as much to Jace, only to have the redhead laugh.

“People always think that,” Jace admitted. “I blame Hollywood. But a good half of the state is forest. I think you’d really like living there.”

“Maybe,” Stiles said neutrally. He didn’t have any plans about leaving California any time soon.

Throughout lunch, Stiles caught Derek giving them darker and darker looks. At first, he thought Derek was just mad that he ditched him for lunch but, as time went on, he began to think it might be more than that.

_What? Does he think I’m over here spilling our super-secret—nonexistent—plan for winning the next round of the challenge?_

That thought annoyed him a little. He would never betray his pack like that. And wasn’t the whole point of this Pack Gathering to get to know and befriend members of the other packs. His irritation about it only grew, and it was a relief, when the next round started up.  
  


 

***Derek***

Derek should have known better than to leave Stiles alone, when Jace was around. He’d just walked over to the cooler to grab them both something to drink, only to turn around and find arrogant bastard leading Stiles over to the opposite side of the clearing. A growl rose up in his throat and Laura’s warning grip on his arm was the only thing that kept him from charging over there and dragging Stiles away.

“If you would just tell Stiles how you feel, you wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place,” Laura hissed in his ear, as they sat down to eat.

Derek ignored her and kept his focus on Stiles and Jace. He barely tasted his food, as he mechanically shoved it in his mouth, all his attention was on Stiles. He honed in his hearing to listen in on their conversation and only became more distressed the more he listened. They talked about college and their majors, Jace once again making allusions to enrolling at CalTech to be closer to Stiles. Then the conversation turned to Jace’s home in Montana and how much Stiles would love it there. And Stiles didn’t say anything to dismiss that possibility.

He had always known that Stiles wouldn’t be single forever, but at least assumed that he would always stay in Beacon Hills, near his dad and the pack. It had never even occurred to him that Stiles might move away and join another pack. He could hardly stand the idea of Stiles being with someone else, but the thought of him moving away and never seeing him again was unbearable.

On top of all that, whenever Stiles wasn’t looking, Jace would give Derek these smug little looks, as if to say ‘see, I’m taking him away from you and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

He was relieved beyond words, when the Alphas announced that the second round would be starting. Erica’s team had been the ‘herd’ in the last round and had successfully managed to keep their flag away from the triplets, so that meant Derek, Laura, and Stiles were the ‘herd’ for this round. Unfortunately, Jace would be part of the team opposing them. Since Stiles was the fastest, they had decided that he would wear the flag belt and that meant Jace had the perfect excuse to chase after Stiles. Derek silently vowed that he wouldn’t let Jace anywhere near Stiles.

The Alpha’s gave the signal, and the two ‘herds’ ran off into the woods for their fifteen minute head start. They ran a good distance into the woods, before Laura stopped them to discuss a strategy.

“I think our best bet is to try and avoid them for as long as possible,” Laura started. “If we can evade them for long enough, we can run out the clock, without ever having to face them.”

“Then we should stick together,” Derek said, not wanting to let Stiles out of his sight.

“Yes, splitting up would be a bad idea, since they outnumber us,” Laura agreed. “But how do we keep them off our trail for long enough? Norman’s team hid their trail in the stream for a while, but we eventually caught up to them.”

“I had an idea about that,” Stiles smirked. “Even though they’ve faded, I can still smell a lot of the scent trails from yesterday. Wanna bet that that bleached area is still strong enough to really mess with their noses.”

“All right, we stick to the stream, like Norman’s team did earlier, and, when they start closing in, we throw them off by leading them through the bleached area. Stiles, no running off on your own unless absolutely necessary. Even surrounded, we have a better chance if we stick together.”

With a solid plan in place, they set off again. They reached the stream just as their fifteen minutes were up. They managed to avoid Erica’s team for a little over an hour by running back and forth through the water but they were slowly catching up with them. Laura began moving them closer and closer to where they’d run into the bleach yesterday and running in the stream more than on the solid ground. But running through water, even ankle deep water, slowed them down, and it wasn’t long before they could hear Erica and her team at their heels.

They made a break for the woods, Erica’s team not far behind. Luckily for them, the bleach field was almost as strong as it was yesterday. They took a deep breath and dashed into the thick of it. They were prepared for it, Erica and her team weren’t.

Running around in the bleach field, they managed to evade their opponents for a good amount of time but not forever. Eventually, they were surrounded. Surprisingly, Isaac made the first move and lunged at Laura. Laura was able to hold him off but Isaac was holding his own. That left Derek and Stiles to deal with Erica, Jace, and Jamie. They were a little more cautious and just circled the two of them, waiting for an opening.

Derek’s blood was pounding in his ears. The combined effects of the approaching full moon and his wolf’s excitement for the challenge has his wolf howling for action. He wanted to win. To show Stiles what a worthy mate he would make. Most of all, he wanted to rip Jace apart for daring to try and court _his_ Stiles.

To make matters worse, whenever Stiles was distracted by Erica or Jamie, Jace would intentionally give Derek these smug little looks and eye Stiles suggestively. He was outright leering at Stiles and making a move to pounce on him, when Derek’s temper finally snapped.

He knew it was the wrong move as soon as he made it but he couldn’t help it. To his wolf, Erica and Jamie weren’t a real threat. They were friends and wouldn’t really hurt Stiles. But Jace was competition. Jace was trying to steal Stiles away and his wolf wouldn’t stand for that.

Claws and fangs out, he lunged at Jace, knocking him to the ground in seconds and doing his level best to keep him there. But Jace was decent fighter himself and a little bit quicker that Derek. Jace wriggled out of Derek’s grasp and was clawing a Derek ferociously. What started off as a game, quickly turned into an actual brawl, as the two of them clawed and grappled with each other. So intent on eviscerating Jace, he didn’t even hear the Alpha’s howl. It wasn’t until Laura and Stiles were trying to pull him away from Jace that he even realized what he’d been doing.

“What the hell is wrong with you!” Stiles yelled. “This is supposed to be a game!”

Adrenaline still running high, it took him a minute to even understand what Stiles was talking about. Slowly, the red haze of rage faded from his mind and he looked around him. Jamie was holding their flag triumphantly in his fist, as Erica lifted him into the air. Isaac had apparently helped Stiles and Laura break up the fight and was keeping a firm hold on Jace.

“We lost, genius,” Stiles said scornfully. “You completely ditched me for your little catfight with Jace. I had to try and hold off both Erica and Jamie at once.”

“Stiles I…”

“Just save it,” Stiles growled and stomped off back to the clearing. His wolf whined as he watched Stiles walk away from him.

“I didn’t—I only meant…” Derek said.

Derek didn’t know what he actually meant. He didn’t know what to say to make this better. He looked over at Laura beseechingly.

“I know Der,” Laura said softly, putting her arm around him. “It’ll be okay.”

 

 

***Stiles***

Stiles continued to give Derek the cold shoulder all the way back to the clearing and for the entire ride back to the Clarke cabin, jumping out and away from him as soon as they stopped. He was determined to ignore Derek for the rest of the day but he knew his resolve wasn’t that strong. He was pissed that Derek had cost them the game for whatever stupid beef he had with Jace, but he knew Derek wasn’t all to blame. During the game, he’d spotted Jace taunting Derek but that didn’t excuse how he had just completely abandoned him to Erica and Jamie.

So lost in his angry musings, he didn’t even hear Nancy calling his name until she was right next to him.

“Stiles!” Nancy yelled, putting a hand on his arm.

“Huh,” Stiles said, shaking his head a little in confusion.

“I’ve been calling your name for the past five minutes,” Nancy said.

“Oh, sorry,” Stiles replied. “I’m sorry. I guess I was stuck in my head a little.”

“No worries, I understand,” Nancy gave him a kind smile. “I heard a little about what happened in the last round.”

“Yeah,” Stiles sighed. “I’m just being a sore loser. Is there something you needed?”

“Actually, there is,” Nancy answered. “Remember how we were talking about Emissaries the other day and how Tawiyela thought you might have a spark?”

“Yeah, totally!” Stiles said, his interest piqued.

“Well, I asked her about it and I guess she talked to you Alpha a little,” Nancy explained, gesturing to where Peter and Tawiyela were talking off to the side. “If you’re not busy, we were thinking that we could maybe test it a little.  You know, see if your spark will let you do a little magic.”

“Heck yeah!” Stiles shouted. The thought of learning magic was something that had intrigued him for a while, and it would be a good way to keep his mind off of Derek.

Laughing at his childlike enthusiasm, Nancy led him over to Peter and Tawiyela at one of the picnic tables. Even though he’d seen her around a lot since they’d been here, he hadn’t actually talked to her. To be honest, he was kind of intimidated by her. There was just something so otherworldly about her. She was always so calm and poised, the exact opposite of him.

“Hello Stiles,” Tawiyela greeted him. “I’ve been hoping that we might get a chance to speak.”

“Yeah?” Stiles said in disbelieve. “I mean, yeah, I’ve wanted to talk to you too. About, like, magic and stuff. If that’s cool with you?”

She smiled that same enigmatic Mona Lisa smile she’d given them the first day. Peter just chuckled a little and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, magic and stuff,” she reaped, somehow making it sound so much better than how Stiles had said it. “I believe Nancy explained a little bit about what a Spark was to you the other day.”

“Yeah, it’s a kind of special inclination for magic that only certain people have,” Stiles replied.

“That’s partially accurate,” Tawiyela corrected. “Technically speaking, every living creature possesses an inner spark but only very few are able to utilize it to preform acts of what you call ‘magic.’ Normally such a trait is inherited from somewhere in one’s family tree. Judging from the lack of such spark in your father, I would hazard a guess that you inherited it from your mother’s side of your family.”

“Probably,” Stiles said nervously. He always felt strange talking about his mom. “My mom was always into that kind of stuff. You know, the power of nature and old myths. She used to tell me about all the old Polish folklore her family passed down through the generations.”

“Hmm, the old traditions tend to be the ones most deeply rooted in our power,” Tawiyela agreed. “Many people mistake our power for just uttering a few words in a dead language and mixing together a few ‘magic ingredients’ into a potion. What many fail to realize is that belief and will power are more important.”

“Wow, so do you really think I might be able to do some of the stuff you guys can do?” Stiles asked.

“That’s what we’d like to find out,” Peter said happily. “Tawiyela has brought a few basic things with her to see if you show any aptitude for them. Nothing dangerous or painful, I promise.”

They started off with a simple quartz crystal. Tawiyela explained that crystals, because of their unique structure, could act like magical batteries to store up energy for later use. So basically, Stiles had to hold the quartz in the palm of his hand and imagine the energy in his body flowing into it. It felt a little silly at first but, after a few moments, he could swear that the quartz felt like it was getting warmer. Tawiyela confirmed that it had indeed worked and set the quartz on the table.

They tried a few other things but none of them were as successful as his attempt with the quarts.

“Now we’ll try something with Mountain Ash,” Tawiyela announced, pulling out a small drawstring bag. “I’ll let Nancy demonstrate it for you first.”

Nancy reached her hand into the bag and pulled out a handful of what looked like coarse black powder. She closed her eyes and, with a look of deep concentration on her face, she slowly poured the powder onto the table, where it formed itself into an impossibly perfect ring around the quartz.

“Whoa,” Stiles exclaimed, greatly impressed. “I’m guessing you didn’t do that with, like, magnets or anything.”

“No, that was all me,” Nancy stated proudly.

“Now, Stiles I would like you to try and break that circle,” Tawiyela said.

“Okay,” Stiles said rubbing his hands together. “I got this!”

He reached his hand out to try and brush the powder away, but his hand was stopped an inch or so away from the circle. It felt like there was some kind of invisible wall preventing him from getting any closer.

“Don’t try and break it physically, but try concentrating on it in your mind instead,” Nancy encouraged. “Think of it like a curtain that you’re trying to part. Closing your eyes and visualizing it can help sometimes.”

Following her advice, Stiles closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He tried to image he was Moses parting the Red Sea, though he probably looked more like Bruce Almighty parting his bowl of soup. After several attempts, he was no closer to parting the Mountain Ash barrier than when he first started. Every time he tried, he just kept getting repelled.

“I thought as much,” Peter sighed. “Mountain Ash is a barrier against our kind. It wouldn’t make sense that one of us would be able to wield it, even if they possessed the Spark.”

“So, I’m useless at magic,” Stiles said dejectedly.

“Not necessarily,” Tawiyela disagreed. “You were still able to energize the quartz. At the very least you could be able to assist another magic user in whatever they endeavored. And your spark might affect you in other ways as well.”

“Like what,” Stiles asked, his curiosity perking up a little.

“You are aware, I believe, or a male werewolf’s ability to conceive children?” Tawiyela asked.

“Yeah, but only if an Alpha is the one that fu—does the, ah, you know,” Stiles blushes as he realized what he was about to say out loud.

“Under normal circumstances, yes,” Tawiyela explained. “Because an Alpha’s Spark is so powerful, they can kindle new life in another. I believe that your spark might be powerful enough for that as well.”

Stiles was struck speechless for a moments. He looked around the table to see if they were playing a prank of him, but even Peter looked genuinely surprised by this news.

“So, you’re saying I could make a guy pregnant?” he asked.

His mind instantly flashed to the night he’d helped Derek through his heat.

“Or you yourself could conceive without an Alpha,” Tawiyela confirmed. “But you and mostly likely your partner would have to want it. What you call ‘magic’ does not happen on accident. And there would no doubt be other factors that would have to be taken into consideration.”

“That’s—that’s a lot to think about,” Stiles said.

“And you have plenty of time to think about it,” Peter assured. “I don’t imagine you’d be ready for children any time soon.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely gonna wait a few years _at least_ ,” Stiles stressed.

They talked some more about sparks and how he would be able to assist other magic users in rituals and such. They stayed clear of the whole baby issue.

Stiles didn’t realize how long they’d been talking until someone announced that Dinner was ready. His first thought was to find Derek and tell him all about what he’d learned but then he remembered that he was supposed to be upset with him. It was hard to stay mad at Derek though, and he resolved to find him and apologize for freaking out on him but he never got the chance.

Jace cornered him as soon as he got inside and insisted that they eat together. Jace proudly helped himself to his share of food and took four garlic rolls, leaving none for Stiles by the time he could go up and get food. Stiles tried to hint that garlic rolls were his favorite, but Jace either didn’t get the hint or ignored it.

Throughout dinner, Jace regaled him with more information about his studies in molecular biology and Stiles listened attentively, even though he didn’t understand half of it. The longer Jace went on the more he started sounding like Jackson Whittemore, after a winning game. Finally, Jace mentioned something that sounded similar to something in the last Incredible Hulk movie and Stiles managed to shift the conversation to something they could both talk about.

After dinner, everyone headed outside to hear more stories from the elders. Stiles enthusiasm for it was significantly greater than Jace’s. Jace even tried to talk him into skipping ‘story time’ as he called it, and go for a walk with him.

“I’ve heard all these stories before,” Jace said dismissively.

“Yeah, but I haven’t,” Stiles countered. “Or, at least, I’ve never heard them from a werewolf’s point of view. I’m still pretty new to all this werewolf stuff, ya’know.”

In the end, Stiles got his way, but not without grumbling complaints from Jace. Stiles tried to lead Jace so that he could sit next to Derek, but Jace insisted that they sit on the opposite side of the fire from Derek and Laura. It was closer to Jace’s pack, so he guessed that was why.

Even though he’d seen it twice already, he still loved how the three elders walked to the center of the circle with so much ceremony and started their tales. At first they started out with some basic beliefs from different cultures. They told them about how the Japanese used to worship wolves as great protectors and how they would leave offerings of food near a wolf’s den in the hopes that they would protect their fields from wild boar and deer. Stiles found the part about how the Japanese used to carve charms and talismans with wolf images to protect them from disease and misfortune particularly interesting.

Then they went on and told them about how the Norse people in Scandinavian countries would tell legends of great warriors, who defended their homes by transforming into great beasts of unstoppable power. Rather than being feared, these great warriors were revered as their mightiest protectors. The Clarke Pack was said to be descendant of a particularly famous Berserker, who could change into a wolf.

“Werewolves have been known as great champions of people in many cultures around the world,” Adam Clarke explained. “In British legend, there was even a member of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table who was a werewolf. His name was Sir Marrok. Sir Marrok was a noble baron who would transform into a wolf once a month on the full moon. His suspicious wife, grew curious as to where he went every month. After months of asking and pleading, he finally relented and shared his secret with her. He explained that once a month he changed into the form of a wolf and ran wild through the woods and that the only way he could change back was to hid his human clothing in a safe place and put them back on after the moon set. Horrified at the thought that her husband was a monster, she betrayed him. She stole his clothes from his hiding place, trapping him in his wolf form.”

“Devastated by his wife’s betrayal, he ran away, until he eventually came across King Arthur out hunting with his knights,” Amanda continued the story. “They were hunting a wild boar, a very dangerous thing to do. The boar charged at King Arthur and would have killed him, if not for the intervention of Sir Marrok. Amazed and grateful that this wolf had saved his life, King Arthur brought him back to Camelot with him. There Sir Marrok lived as the beloved bet of King Arthur. So, Sir Marrok lived for a time at Camelot, where everyone who came to visit remarked on how extraordinarily calm and friendly the wolf was.”

“Then one day, King Arthur hosted a banquet at Camelot and invited all the nobles and knight in the realm to join him,” Adam took over the story again. “Everyone in the Kingdom came for join in the celebration, including Sir Marrok’s wife and her new husband. Seeing his treacherous wife, Sir Marrok attacked her and bit off her nose. Surprised at the normally docile wolf’s reaction, King Arthur questioned why the wolf would have done such a thing. Terrified of her former husband and of the King’s punishment, she confessed to stealing her first husband’s clothes and trapping him in his wolf form. King Arthur immediately ordered Sir Marrok’s clothes to be fetched from where his wife had hidden them and returned Sir Marrok to his true form. Sir Marrok was restored to human form and invited to join the Knights of the Round Table and his treacherous wife was banished, and ever after her descendants would be known for being born without a nose, so that everyone would know their true nature.”

Stiles thought that it was a little unfair to blame the kids for the sins of their parents but it was just a story after all. He would have debated the justice of it but Sophia began telling the next story.

“Earlier tonight you were told of the Scandinavians, who revered the great Berserker warriors that transformed into beasts on the battlefield but, as with every element of human nature, the Norse believed in the bad and the good of the Wolf,” Sophia said solemnly.

“Hunters often refer to the myth of Fenrir as an example of why werewolves should be killed bu.t in a way. it also shows why they are wrong. In Norse Mythology, Fenrir was the wolf son of Loki, the trickster God of Mischief. Wise Odin, King of the Norse Gods, known as the Aesir, brought Fenrir into his great hall to keep watch over him. As time passed, Fenrir grew larger and larger into a mighty beast. Only Tyr, the braves of the Aesir, even dared approach him to bring him food. Eventually, the Aesir grew so terrified of Fenrir’s great size and strength that they decided to lock him up. Twice they forged chains to told Fenrir, telling him that they were simply playing a game to judge his strength. Twice Fenrir broke free with no effort at all. Seeing this, the Aesir sought the help of the dwarves in fashioning a chain that would hold Fenrir. The result was the Gleipnir, a chain forged of six impossible things, which was as thin as a silken ribbon yet stronger than any iron.

“When the Aesir challenged Fenrir a third time, he eyed the chain suspiciously. Suspecting a trap he asked for a promise that they would release him if he was unable to break it. The Aesir promised and as a sign of good faith, Tyr put his right hand into Fenrir’s mouth. Then Gleipnir was put around Fenrir. Fenrir pulled and pulled at the chains, but the more he struggled, the tighter they became. When at last he admitted defeat, he asked that the Aesir remove the chains but they simply laughed and celebrated their triumph. Since they did not keep their word, he bit off Tyr’s hand. So great was Fenrir’s anger at their betrayal that he vowed to destroy all the Aesir and everything they hold dear. Not long after that, a prophesy was revealed stating that when Ragnarok occurred, Fenrir would be released and it would be he who would slay Odin, King of the Aesir. Hunters point to this and say ‘See, see! Wolves can never be trusted. They are murderous beasts who will kill the best and wisest of us.’”

“Yeah, but Odin kinda did it to himself,” Stiles spoke up, more than familiar with the hypocritical bullshit of hunters. “I mean, nowhere in Norse Mythology does it say that Fenrir actually did anything wrong, before he was locked up. The Norse Gods were just scared of how strong he was, so they locked him up for no reason. I’d be pretty pissed off too, if that happened to me.”

“You’re quite right young man,” Sophia agreed. “And just like the Aesir feared Fenrir’s strength, so too do hunters fear our power. It is that fear that is at the heart of why they hunt us. They are terrified by what we _might_ do, so much that they see it as acceptable to strike first, whether or not we pose any actual threat.”

“So much for due process,” Erica snorted.

After the elders finished their stories, everyone was more than ready to go to sleep.

On the ride home, the minivan was silent. No one really talked. Stiles couldn’t help but think that he wanted to apologize for freaking out on Derek earlier but he also felt that Derek should apologize first. The longer he waited for Derek to say something, the more annoyed he got. Needless to say, getting into bed together was probably even more awkward than the first night. Eventually, Stiles started to drift off. His last thoughts were that they could talk in the morning.

_Everything’s better after a good night’s rest._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! The second challenge is completed. Only one more to go before the big Perigee Moon run! I hope you guys liked it! This chapter was really difficult to right and I felt like I could have added more to it, but I really wanted to post it sooner, since I've been away for so long. I promise, I'll never be that long in-between chapters again.
> 
> Comments and Critiques are always welcome. Or you can follow me on tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took so long to get this chapter out, but I've been battling a crazy amount of writer's block on this section of the story. The good news is, that I've been coping with that writer's block by working on the last chapter, so that part is most finished and there shouldn't be any delay in posting it when I finally get to the end.

  
  
***Derek***

Derek was really going to miss waking up with Stiles in his arms, when they went back home. How was he supposed to go back to sleeping alone in his big empty bed, after he’d felt what it was like to share one with Stiles. He was so cozy and warm with Stiles curled against his chest. It was so comfortable that he never wanted to get up again.

But he knew he had to.

Right now, Stiles was cuddly and content but soon he would wake up and he would remember that he’s mad at Derek. The last think he wanted was to watch Stiles’ features turn from sleepy contentment to anger directed at him.

Carefully, he slid out of bed and out of Stiles’ grasp. After four days of this, he’d become a pro at sneaking out of bed without waking Stiles, though it got harder and hard the closer they got to the full moon. His wolf was always near the surface at times like this and it was very displeased with his choice to leave Stiles’ side. Derek didn’t even want to think how difficult it would be to pull away from Stiles on the actual day of the full moon.

Slipping on some clothes, he went for his morning run. He ran hard for quite a few miles and didn’t slow down, until he started breathing heavily. He’s been hoping to have a peaceful run, free of having to interact with anyone else, but today was not his lucky day. Someone was approaching him from off to his right. Praying that it wasn’t Jace again—he didn’t think he could handle another encounter with him without ripping the bastard’s throat out—he was relieved to find that it was Erica instead.

Giving thanks to whatever benevolent deity was smiling down on him, he slowed down and allowed her to catch up with him, even though he wasn’t in any kind of mood for company. The two of them ran together in silence for another mile, before Erica finally got fed up and made them both stop.

“What bug crawled up your ass, Hale?” Erica snarled.

“The redheaded kind,” Derek fired back before he could think better of it.

Erica snorted. “You’re still mad about yesterday? He used your own jealousy against you to win a game. Get over it!”

“I’m not jealous,” Derek snapped.

“Please,” Erica snorted again. “The only person blind enough not to see how head over heels you are for Stiles, is Stiles.”

“Stiles knows how I feel about him,” Derek said darkly.

_How can he not, after I gave him a claiming bite._

“You’re even dumber that I thought, if you believe that,” Erica huffed. “And you’re a hypocrite, if you say that you wouldn’t have pulled the same trick that Jace did yesterday.”

She had a point but he didn’t want to admit that.

“It was still a low move,” Derek growled.

“It was a low move that I agreed with,” Erica countered. “Jace told me his plan ahead of time and I told him to go for it. I wanted to win and I make no apology for that.”

Derek glared at her for a good minute, until he realized that she wasn’t going to back down.

“He’s still an asshole,” he huffed.

“Jace is kind of a jerk,” Erica relented. “But he’s not as bad as you think. He’s a little pushy and arrogant but that’s all a defense mechanism for how insecure he is.”

It was Derek’s turn to snort now.

“Look, I’m not going to go into detail—because it’s none of your business—but he’s not the total douche you think he is,” Erica stated defensively. “And, he’s a member of my pack. So, if you’re thinking of trying anything against him, just know that you’ll have to deal with me as well.”

Erica started to walk away from him, but then stopped and turned back.

“You know, Jace would back off in a second, if you would just get over yourself and ask Stiles to be with you,” Erica said.

“I told you, he already knows,” Derek gritted out.

Erica sighed and rolled her eyes, “You two idiots deserve each other.”

Derek watched her go, her words echoing in his ears.

 

 

***Stiles***

Once again, Stiles woke up alone, and it really pissed him off.

They had had sex twice—three times, if you count the two times they did it during his first heat—not to mention the blow jobs and other stuff, but waking up in bed together is apparently where Derek drew the line. They were pack after all. It shouldn’t be that weird to snuggle a little. The annoyance he felt towards Derek from yesterday returned threefold.

Realizing that he was the only one awake in the cabin, Stiles got up to make some breakfast. Slipping on a shirt and pulling up his sleep pants, he made his way to the kitchen to try and whip up some breakfast. Failing to think of something inventive that they hadn’t already had this week, he ended up settling for veggie omelets and French toast.

Taking out a cutting board, he started viciously chopping the vegetables, venting all his frustration into cleaving the helpless greens into the smallest pieces imaginable. He was so caught up in his vegetable carnage that he didn’t even hear his dad enter the kitchen.

“And I thought I hated vegetables,” John commented, coming up beside him. “Still you should ease up a little, before I have to pull you aside for excessive use of force. Or you break the cutting board.”

“Yeah, I gotta start the French toast anyways,” he sighed, reluctantly putting down the knife.

“Need any help,” John offered.

“Um, you could scramble the eggs, if you want,” Stiles replied.

They worked together in silence for a few minutes, before his dad finally spoke up.

“So, I can’t help but notice you’re a little upset this morning,” John observed.

“Boy, those are some keen observation skills you got there, dad,” Stiles said sarcastically. “Those years of police work are really paying off for you.”

“I’ll blame that smart remark on the full moon,” John said graciously. “But seriously son, is everything all right?”

Stiles gave a heavy sigh.

_I wouldn’t even know where to begin._

He opened his mouth to say something, not really sure what he was even going to say, when the cabin door opened. Derek walked in, sweaty and panting from his run. For just a moment, Stiles thought that Derek might walk over to him and say something. Maybe apologize or say anything really. Instead, Derek just uttered a quick good morning and mumbled something about taking a shower, as he headed to their room.

Frowning, Stiles determinedly went back to preparing breakfast.

“Son, you were about to say something,” John pressed, once Derek has shut their bedroom door.

“It’s nothing,” Stiles grumbled. “Just the full moon.”

All throughout breakfast, Stiles steadfastly ignored Derek, not even looking at him, and focused all his attention on pestered Peter relentlessly about the last challenge.

“We know that you designed the second challenge and Sophia designed the first one, so that means Bryan was the one who created this one, right?” Stiles questioned.

“Yes, Bryan designed this one,” Peter confirmed. “It’s much more straightforward than the previous two challenges and that is all I’m going to say on the matter.”

“But—”

“That’s all I’m going to say on the matter,” Peter repeated.

“Just let it go, son,” John said. “You’ll find out soon enough anyways.”

Stiles only partially let it go, alternating between eating and trying to ask subtle enough questions that Peter would let something slip. He didn’t.

After breakfast, everyone went back to their rooms to get dressed. Stiles intentionally took longer picking out his clothing, trying to give Derek time to approach him and apologize for yesterday, but he never did. He’d thought that Derek hadn’t said anything earlier because of everyone else around, but they were alone in the room and there was nothing stopping him. To make matters worse, he spent so much time stalling to give Derek a chance to talk that he ended up having to rush his own shower and ran out of hot water halfway through.

By the time they get to the clearing, Stiles was actively giving Derek the cold shoulder. Even when Derek tried to talk to him about the next challenge, Stiles just ignored him. It was a relief, when the three Alphas went to the center of the clearing to describe the last challenge. Then he actually had an excuse not to talk to Derek.

“For our last two challenges, you demonstrated the skills of tracking your prey and separating them from a herd,” Sophia began. “In our final challenge, you will compete in the last aspect of the hunt, the takedown.”

At these words everyone in the clearing perks up at these words.

“Taking down your prey quickly and efficiently can be the difference between life and death in the wild,” Peter continues. “Your challenge today will be one on one combat.”

There were a few cheers and whoops of delight at the prospect of showing off their physical prowess.

From there the Alphas went on to explain how it would work. Everyone would be paired off with an opponent, whom they would face off against. The winners of the first round would then be paired off again and face each other and so on, until there was only one person left. A circle would be drawn in the middle of the clearing to serve as the battleground. The rest of the rules were simple: no claws, no fangs, and a person was out if they got pushed out of the circle, got knocked out, got pinned to the ground for ten full seconds, or they tapped out.

The excitement in the air was palpable. Everyone had been itching to really test their skills against the other all week and, with the moon pounding in their veins, they were more than ready for this challenge. A circle was quickly drawn out and people were pared off. The Alphas had done a pretty good job of mixing up the packs so that all but one pair were facing off against someone other than a packmate. Most of them removed their shoes and any excess jewelry, except for Isaac and Jamie who kept their moonstone necklaces. There were also more than a few Fight Club jokes, though to be fair, most of them were made by Stiles. And he was fairly certain that some of the other members of the packs, not participating in the challenges, were placing bets on who would be the ultimate winner.

The first round started off with a bang as Erica and Alicia faced off against each other. It was a real nail-biter watching Alicia’s speed go against Erica’s viciousness. There were a few close calls but, in the end, Erica was victorious. Stiles thought that, if Erica had been allowed to use her claws, the fight would have been over much sooner.

Next up was Derek vs. Norman. It was actually comical just how fast that fight ended. Norman had strutted into the circle, puffed up like a peacock, and had loudly proclaimed that the fight would be over in minutes. Well, Norman was right, but not in the way he’d intended. Norman was actually pretty decent, but it was obvious that he was used to going against people who didn’t have his abilities. Derek had knocked out in less than three minutes.

Even though he was trying to say mad at him, Stiles couldn’t hold back his ecstatic cheers, when Derek was declared the winner.

After that, was Boyd vs. Jace. There was a lot of speculation about who would be the winner of that round. On the one hand, Boyd was huge and super, super strong. On the other hand, no one really knew how good of a fighter Jace was, except maybe his packmates and they weren’t talking. It started out simple enough, the two of them circling each other, trying to get a feel for the other. Jace was the one who struck out first, but Boyd easily blocked it. This continued again and again but Boyd seemed to have learned his lesson from his fight with Stiles in the last challenge. He waited patiently for Jace to make a mistake, and when he did, he picked the smaller wolf up, threw him to the ground, and crushed him there, until the ten seconds were up.

Stiles’ turn was next and he was up against one of the triplets, Aubrey. His wolf was salivating for a good fight and that’s exactly what he got. Aubrey was clearly well trained in self-defense and she gave just as good as she got. She was tough, but he could tell that she was more used to fighting in a group with her sisters. As they fought, he noticed that her guard was weaker on the left side and took advantage of it. His strength and his training with Peter gave him an edge and he just managed to pin her for ten seconds. His wolf roared in victory, but he managed to hold it back and offer Aubrey a hand up, after their round.

Gemma and Isaac ended up facing each other, even though they were in the same pack. It was an unfair advantage, because Gemma knew all of Isaac’s weak spots, but Isaac was gracious about it and their fight was still pretty good. Gemma went on to the next round.

Next, Laura faced off against Zoë, the last remaining triplet. Their fight was almost as quick as Norman and Derek’s, with Laura coming out the winner.

The final match was against Jamie and Nancy. And boy did that fight end in a twist. Even though he knew that Nancy was a good fighter, he still thought that Jamie would have beaten her with his abilities. Instead, Nancy gracefully sidestepped every swipe and jab that Jamie made at her and managed to trip him up enough to push him out of the circle. Most boys Jamie’s age would have thrown a fit and sulked at being beaten by a girl, and a human at that, but Jamie just laughed it off and complimented Nancy on her fighting skill. Nancy ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately and if the beaming smile he gave her was any indication then Stiles was fairly certain that Jamie harbored a bit of a crush on Nancy as well.

After the end of the first found, they broke for lunch. When Jace swooped in and asked Stiles to eat lunch with, he was immensely grateful for the excuse to avoid Derek a little longer. He was grateful…for about five minutes, until it became apparent how tedious eating with Jace was.

In a lot of ways, Jace was a lot like Lydia Martin. He was witty and gorgeous and he was easily more intelligent than everyone around him. Unfortunately, he also had Lydia’s tendency to make everything about him, no matter what conversation topic they started off on. He had been blind to that flaw in Lydia because she was his first major crush and he’d only been in high school, but he’d grown up a lot since then.

Let’s just say, he couldn’t wait for the next round to begin.

 

 

***Derek***

The next round couldn’t start soon enough, in Derek’s opinion. His wolf was urging him to start it himself by walking over to where Jace and Stiles were sitting and ripping the redhead’s throat out. He refrained, but only for the sake of inter-pack relations. The fact that Laura was at his side keeping a close watch on him, ready to tackle him to the ground if he made a move in that direction, also probably had something to do with it.

Laura wasn’t the only one keeping an eye on his and Jace’s interaction. More than once, he’d noticed some of the older members of all three packs watching him when it looked like he was headed in Jace’s direction.

He also couldn’t help but notice that he and Jace had been placed at complete opposite ends of the fighting match ups. Even if Jace had won his round against Boyd, he and Derek wouldn’t have face off against each other, unless they both made it to the final round. No doubt the Peter and the other Alphas had done that intentionally.

Part of him wished that the Alphas had fixed it so that the two of them could hash it out, but he knew that if that happened, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hold to the no claws or fangs rule. Especially after seeing how attached to him Stiles was becoming. Stiles had spend three times as long as he normally did, trying to pick out the right outfit to wear this morning and Stiles only did something like that if he was trying to impress someone. Derek hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to Stiles about yesterday because of it.

Still, there were perks to how the Alphas had arranged things. He had loved getting the chance to finally knock Norman’s lights out. Years of resentment for how Norman had bullied him in their younger years were finally avenged, when he got to see the look shocked confusion on the arrogant wolf’s face. Not to mention how his wolf had basked in Stiles’ praise, when he had been declared the victor. The rush of victory over his old rival and Stiles’ obvious pride in him had done wonders for his control.

That didn’t stop him from shooting to his feet the second they announced that the next round would be starting.

There was a slight issue at first because there were an odd number of opponents, but Nancy was nice enough to tactfully withdraw.

His excitement about the next round was soon dampened, when he saw whom Stiles’ next opponent would be.

“Looks like we get to have a rematch,” Boyd smirked, clapping Stiles on the back. “Don’t think I’ll fall for the same trick you pulled last time.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Stiles boasted. “I’ve got plenty of tricks left up my sleeve.”

He actually, really liked Boyd but, in that moment, he would have happily snapped the other wolf’s neck rather than let him lay a hand on Stiles.

While the Alphas were redrawing the circle, Derek pulled Stiles aside to give him a few last minute pointers.

“You have to keep on the move in this round,” Derek told him. “Speed’s your strong suit and you’re not match for him, when it comes to strength.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Stiles said coldly.

“I’m just saying that you need to be careful,” Derek stressed. “He has at least a hundred pounds on you and he knows how to throw a punch. Your best bet is to try and knock him out of the circle.”

“You know, I have had the same training as you have, Derek,” Stiles snapped. “Maybe you should be focusing more on how you’re going to take on Erica in your match, so you don’t blow it for us, like you did yesterday.”

Stiles’ words were like a physical blow, so much so that he actually took a step back. The hurt he felt must have shown on his face, because Stiles looked ashamed. Stiles was about to say something else, but the Alphas announced that they were ready to start.

“Go luck,” Derek said hastily, before promptly retreating, metaphorical tail between his legs.

Laura walked over to him, a questioning look on her face. “What just happened?” she asked. “One second I see you two talking and the next I see you running away like someone kicked your puppy.”

“It’s nothing,” he sulked.

He was saved from her further questioning by the match starting.

It began simply, Stiles and Boyd circling each other. Stiles tried his usual tactic of trying to distract Boyd but the other wolf wasn’t falling for it. They kept this up for a little while and Stiles even managed to force Boyd to move around a little more than he normally would have. But them Boyd surprised everyone by lashing out and catching Stiles with a brutal blow to the side of his ribcage. Derek could hear the bone cracking, as Stiles fell to the ground.

He was on the verge of jumping in, when he felt a sharp pain in his left arm. Looking to the side, he saw Peter’s claws digging into the meaty part of his bicep.

“It’s just a friendly sparring match Derek,” Peter’s soothing voice said. “He’ll heal, so there’s no need to rush in and save him. In fact he might not appreciate that.”

Derek flushed and Peter retracted his claws but left his hand on Derek’s arm, until the wounds healed. He knew Peter was right. He knew that Stiles wasn’t in any real harm and would hate him for making him look weak in front of all the other pacts. Stiles was smart and resourceful, he didn’t need Derek rushing in like a white knight. But he couldn’t help that all his instincts were screaming to get in there and protect him. Add that to the fact that Derek knew firsthand just how hard Boyd could hit and he was reduced messy ball of nerves. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps back as Peter let go of his shoulder. Erica shot him a knowing smirk but quickly went back to watching the match.

Stiles had gotten back to his feet, just in time to dodge Boyd trying to tackle him. He was a little slower than normal, due to his injuries, but he was still faster than Boyd. Derek’s insides twisted into knots, as the match seemed to go on and on. There were quite close calls as Boyd grew bolder and bolder but Stiles was crafty. The match ended, when Boyd made a lung for Stiles. Stiles managed to use Boyd’s own momentum to throw him off balance, causing him to stumble out of the ring, but Boyd managed to pull Stiles along with him. The match ended in a tie and neither of them went on to the next round.

Derek was too afraid of Stiles’ rejection to go over and congratulate him properly, so instead he pretended to stretch until it was time for his match. He was up against Erica but he was still too distracted by how terrified for Stiles he’d been to really focus on the fight. Most of it passed in a blur that ended with Erica kicking him in the head and out of the circle.

After his loss, he was more distraught than ever, thinking that Stiles would hate him for bungling another challenge. He was so lost in this train of thought that he almost missed Laura’s match against Gemma entirely. Of course, Laura managed to win and the final fight was between her and Erica.

The two of them were well matched and their fight was enough to snap Derek out of his stupor. Both Laura and Erica were vicious fighters and the odds were split down the middle on who would win. In the end Laura won by the skin of her teeth.

He was overjoyed at his sister’s victory but that didn’t detract from his feelings of self-loathing. Still, he managed to muster up a real smile and a few heartfelt congratulations.

After that, everyone headed back to the Clarke cabin for food. Thankfully, no one noticed his dour mood. Not wanting to spoil anyone’s celebration, he silently vowed to slip away at the first chance.

 

 

***Stiles***

Stiles was psyched that a member of the Hale pack had been the ultimate winner of the final challenge. He kept going over Laura’s last fight with Erica, talking to his dad about it, as if he hadn’t been there and seen it as well. He was so caught up in the general mood of celebration that he didn’t even notice Derek slip away.

It wasn’t until he was grabbing some food that he realized Derek was gone. He was piling his plate high and he managed to grab the last of the ribs, because he knew how much Derek loved them and it would be a good peace offering. Turning around to look for him, Stiles couldn’t find Derek. He walked around a bit but he couldn’t see or hear him anywhere. His search was made harder by everyone milling around everywhere.

 _Maybe he’s just off talking to Boyd or someone._ He thought hopefully.

He really wanted to talk to Derek and get a chance to apologize. Yeah, Derek had been a little overbearing and practically called him a damsel in distress, before his match with Boyd, but what Stiles had said was a low blow.

After a solid ten minutes of searching for Derek and avoiding Jace at the same time, the growling of his stomach finally convinced him to settle somewhere to eat. He found a spot on one of the picnic tables near Kyle.

“This seat taken?” Stiles asked.

“Help yourself,” Kyle said.

Plopping down onto the bench, he immediately started devouring his food. Once his initial hunger was sated, he started talking with Kyle. Kyle complimented Stiles on his fighting skills, though Stiles pointed out that he probably wouldn’t have done half as well, if Kyle had been in the competition as well. Their conversation turned in several different directions and somehow they ended up talking about Alphas and how the powers of and title get passed down.

“So, I know Laura will be the next Alpha in our pack,” Stiles said. “Does that mean you’re next in line for Alpha or will it go to Norman?”

“Norman will never become Alpha,” Kyle stated. “Not unless he does some serious growing up. Technically speaking, I guess you could say I’m next in line for Alpha but that can change.”

“If Bryan and Tawiyela have kids,” Stiles hazarded a guessed.

“That’s not quite how it works,” Kyle corrected. “Becoming Alpha isn’t so much about bloodlines or age as it is about the ability to lead. Look at the Reyes Pack for example. Sophia is Alpha but that doesn’t mean that the oldest of the triplets is automatically next in line for Alpha. Right now, I’d put my money on Erica for inheriting that title, but again that could change. Little Jamie could grow up and mature into a better Alpha candidate than all of them.”

Stiles thought on that a little, wondering about other possibilities. If Laura had been a little older or if something had happened to Peter to damage his ability to lead the Pack, she might have inherited the Alpha mantle, when Talia Hale died.

“That makes sense, I guess,” Stiles said. “But how does the Alpha decided who the best candidate to pass down the title to?”

“They don’t,” Kyle smirked. “Sometimes it’s obvious who the best cadidate for Alpha is, like Laura for instance, but no one is really sure exactly how the powers of an Alpha even get transferred from one wolf to another. All we know is that the power usually goes to the pack member with best able to lead at the time. That’s not to say that the power doesn’t sometimes go to their head. And of course there’s always the other way to become an Alpha.”

“Murder,” Stiles said softly.

“It happens, thought it’s rare,” Kyle explains. “Most packs are family and you generally don’t go around murdering your family. And I’ve never heard of an Alpha coming to power that way who last very long. Power has a way of going to people’s heads.”

From there, the conversation moved on to other topics, until it was late enough for the elders to start telling them more werewolf lore.

Stiles found Laura easily enough, but Derek was still nowhere to be seen. Derek finally showed up, just as the elders were about to start and pointedly sat on the opposite side of Laura as him. It stung that Derek didn’t even want to sit next him. He was about to say something to that affect, when Laura nudged him gently and whispered that he’d really enjoy what they had to say tonight.

He turned back around and was shocked to see Peter walk up next to the fire, instead of the other elders. The firelight flickered across his face, making his eyes seem to glow with a strange light that had nothing to do with his normal werewolf powers.

“For the past three nights, you’ve heard about the legends of our kind from all throughout history,” Peter began. “But the myths about us are only half of our history. For you can’t speak of our past without also speaking of those who hunt us.”

A small shiver ran up Stiles’ spine and he saw several others shift uncomfortably as well.

“Almost as long as our kind has walked the earth, there have been those who fear and resent us,” Peter spoke softly. “Our fight with the hunters has always been fought in the shadows, so there are few accounts of it, but there are always a few instances that pop up in the history books. The Inquisition and witch trials were filled with hunters. One man in particular stood out among the rest. A sixteenth century man named Henri Boguet was one of the most notorious hunters in history. This man, if you can call him that, was a judge and took great pleasure in persecuting witches and werewolves, particularly children. He even wrote a book called _Discours des Sorciers_ in which he describes the various methods of torturing a person to get them to confess to all manner of crimes. And all of his machinations were known and even supported by the powers of authority at the time.

“But Henry Boguet was certainly not the first werewolf hunter to work in an official capacity. In During the time of Charlemagne, a family of werewolf hunters insinuated their way into his inner circle and were proclaimed to be the official wolf hunter of the King. They were called the Luparii and they were the royal officials responsible for ‘controlling’ the population of actual wolves in France, during the Middle Ages. On the surface, they were merely a part of the King’s hunting officials and in fact, when their office grew larger, many of the Luparii had not idea that their true purpose was to hunt down werewolves. On the core group, lead by the head of the Luparii, knew. To hide their true mission, they developed a code with a double meaning that they could tell to anyone and only those who were true hunters would understand. A _grand vieux loup_ was a term for an old, solitary male wolf but to hunter it referred to an omega werewolf. A _loup chevalier_ was a term for a wolf that regularly attacked horses but really mean a werewolf pack that fought back against the Luparii. A _loup lévrier_ was a term for an exceptionally fast wolf but really meant a werewolf who had escaped them more than once. A _loup moutonnier_ was a term for a wolf that specialized in killing sheep but really mean a pack that was hiding as members of a village. A wolf den was referred to as a _lovière_ and obviously that was code for the location of a werewolf pack’s home. _Lycisca_ was a term that meant a wolf-dog crossbreed but really referred to a human member of a werewolf pack. The leader of the Luparii, called the _Louvetier Royal_ or the _Grand Louvetier,_ which translates to Wolfcatcher Royal or Grand Wolfcatcher, and was always a werewolf hunter. The Argent family” Peter stopped for a moment, as if speaking their very name was caused him pain “while not the founding family of the Luparii, nevertheless had a long history of holding that position, until the entire office was dissolved in the French Revolution.

“But, irony has a way of turning things around on people. Because, you see, the office of the Wolfcatcher Royal was recently brought back in 1971, only now its purpose is to preserve the wildlife in France. In fact, several werewolves have even been named to the position of Grand Wolfcatcher, as a way to help preserve the forests and hunting grounds for werewolves. Though, of course, not many people know that,” he finished with a chuckle.

Several other people joined in the laughter at that last part, until Peter’s face grew more somber.

“I wish I could say that all of the hunter’s efforts against our kind at that time were limited to what they could get away with under their official guise, but I can’t. One of their most heinous acts against our kind, against my own ancestors, was perpetrated during the Age of Enlightenment, not long before the French Revolution. I am speaking, of course, of the infamous attacks of La Bête du Gevuadan. The Age of Enlightenment was a true blessing for our kind. People were turning away from the superstitious beliefs of the past and putting their trust in science. They stopped believing in werewolves, making it easier for us to hide and making it harder for hunters to exert their influence. As a way to counter this, a group of hunters, including several members of the Argent family, captured an Alpha belonging to the Hale Pack. To this day, we’re not entirely sure what they did to him. There are several theories. One is that they killed his mate and children, another is that they fed him low doses of wolfsbane and suppressed his shifting with moonstones for a dangerous amount of time. Whatever the cause, they drove him insane and then unleashed him on the countryside to terrorize the country and instill fear in the people’s hearts.

“Jean Chastel, the _hero_ of Gevuadan, was actually one of the hunters responsible for carrying out this atrocity but it was the Argent family who engineered the entire thing. They believed that werewolves were the spawn of the devil and that they were anointed by God to rid the earth of us. Their religious fanaticism might have dissipated over the generations but the hatred for our kind is still as strong as ever. So entwined are they in werewolf history that their very name has become synonymous with the death of a werewolf. Today, every movie and book involving werewolves always paints our weakness as silver.”

Peter went on to tell more about the Hale family history. How they migrated to the America and were one of the founding families of Beacon Hills. After he finished, Bryan got up and spoke about the Clarke family’s history, including how members of their family fought in both World Wars. Sophia too got up and spoke, though the Reyes Pack was still considered a fairly new werewolf family. Certainly not as old as the Hales. Stiles had never realized just how far back the Hale family went.

When the Alphas were done talking, everyone headed back to their cabins to get some sleep. Today had been exhausting and tomorrow was the full moon. No one was likely to get much sleep then.

Back at the cabin, Stiles got ready for bed, but Derek was still sitting in the living room.

“Derek, you coming to bed?” Stiles asked, poking his head out the bedroom door.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Derek replied, though something in his voice didn’t sound right. “You can shut off the lights and try to get some sleep. I’ll try not to wake you when I come in.”

He still really wanted to talk to Derek but he was too tired. He waited and waited for Derek but he eventually fell asleep before he came in.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it.
> 
> I'm especially proud of the werewolf lore in this part. For anyone who's interested, the Luparii actually did exist and those are the real terminology they used, though I added the secret werewolf hunters part. Also the story Peter tells about Le Bete de Gevuadan was mostly based off of the movie 'Le Pacte des Loups' or 'the Brotherhood of the Wolf'. It's a pretty cool movie, if anyone is interested in watching it. Also, Henri Boguet was a real person and a very sick and twisted man.
> 
> Comments and critiques are always welcome and you can follow me at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just managed to make my deadline this week, so I'm sorry about any typos or mistakes. This chapter is super angsty and a little short but I hope you like it.

 

 

***Stiles***

Before he was even fully awake, Stiles could sense that something was wrong. Something was off and it was that nagging thought in the back of his mind that pulled him from sleep. The first thing he noticed was that Derek wasn’t next to him, but after four days of that he was almost used to it.

No, what woke him up was the absence of something a little subtler.

Derek’s scent.

Every other time he’d woken up, he’d at least been enveloped in Derek’s comforting scent but not this morning. The bed still smelled like him but it was an old scent, like he hadn’t even slept there the previous night. Getting up, he went out into the living room to see if maybe Derek just passed out on the couch watching TV. Instead he found the couch made up with a pillow and blanket.

 _He slept out here._ He thought with a sense of hurt. _Why didn’t he come back to our room?_

His train of thought was interrupted by Laura walking out of her room. She greeted him with a smile but some emotion must have been showing on his face because gave him a questioning look then her eyes darted to the couch behind him.

“Everything okay Stiles?” she asked with real concern.

“Tch-Yeah!” he said with false bravado. It sounded hollow to his ears. “I guess Derek just couldn’t stand my snoring anymore and wanted a decent night’s sleep before the big night tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Laura pressed. “Things seemed a little frosty between you two the other day. Maybe you two should sit down and talk a few things out.”

“No, yesterday was just, you know, the moon and the competitions getting everyone’s emotions all riled up,” Stiles assured. “We’re…we’re good.”

“Still, sitting down and getting things all out on the table could help,” she continued. “Maybe you might see that some of the things you might be thinking are actually misunderstandings.”

“I doubt that,” Stiles snorted. “Derek doesn’t talk much but he’s pretty straightforward about most of his opinions.”

“About a lot of thing, yes,” she agreed. “But he tends to keep his cards pretty close to his chest, when it’s about personal matters.”

“Known the guy for the better part of two years, pretty sure I know all about his personal stuff too,” Stiles huffed.

She opened her mouth to reply but his dad and Peter came out of their rooms at that moment. Laura and he started breakfast. He was glad to have something to do. The moon was making his energy level skyrocket and he felt like was could just explode. He popped his claws out twice, when he wasn’t paying enough attention and put his hand up against the stove burner. And he just couldn’t seem to stand still.

To be fair, Laura and Peter weren’t much better, though Peter was better at hiding it. His dad just gave him a raised eyebrow the second time he burned himself.

Derek got back from his morning run just as the food was ready. Stiles wanted to just ask him right then and there why he slept on the couch but Derek wasn’t walking to or even meeting anyone’s eye. The others all seemed to realize that something was going on between the two of them but kept silent. Stiles did what he usually did in uncomfortable silences and that was incessant chatter and compulsive twirling of his eating utensils between his fingers. It was officially one of the most awkward meals Stiles had ever sat through and that included the dinner right after the first time his dad had caught him jerking off to gay porn.

As soon as he was done eating, Derek left the table and headed towards their room. Stiles waited about half a second before he got up and followed him, tripping over one of the legs of his chair and nearly falling flat on his face in the process.

“Do you want the first shower or can I take it?” Derek asked, when he walked into their room.

Derek had his back to him, digging through his bag for some clothes. Stiles closed the door and then walked over to him.

“What I want is to know why you slept on the couch last night,” Stiles hissed, surprising himself with how angry he suddenly felt.

“I fell asleep,” Derek said. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Um, no you didn’t,” he shot back. “You got up and grabbed a blanket and pillow. I saw them on the couch.”

“It was just easier,” Derek said softly.

 _Easier than having to spend another night with a spastic kid who has pathetic crush on you._ Stiles thought mournfully.

“You got up, got a blanket and pillow from the closet, walked back to the couch, made up a bed, and then went to sleep and all of that was easier than just walking back to our bed?” he accused.

“I didn’t want to wake you,” Derek mumbled, still not turning around to meet his eye.

“That’s bullshit!” he yelled.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides. He was hurt and pissed off and angry as hell. There were so many emotions swirling around in his head that he couldn’t think straight. He wanted Derek to turn around and actually look him in the face. To just look at him. He could feel his control slipping but he didn’t care.

Before he even realized that he was moving, he had tackled Derek to the ground. Derek was shocked for a second, before his instincts kicked up and he began to fight back. Next thing he knew, Peter was pulling them apart.

“ENOUGH!” Peter snarled. He threw Stiles against one wall and Derek against the opposite. “I know that the moon’s call is strong but you’re both better than this.”

Stiles growled lightly but didn’t say anything. Neither did Derek.

“Stiles, **go take a shower and cool off** ,” Peter ordered, the Alpha command in his voice just enough to get Stiles up on his feet and halfway to the bathroom before he could protest.

The shower helped. He was at least able to get himself back under control. When he was done, he went into the living room to find Peter, Laura, and his dad talking softly. The conversation abruptly stopped, when he entered the room. All three of them seemed to share some kind of look that Stiles couldn’t quite decipher.

“Feeling better?” his dad asked.

“Yeah,” he sighed.

“Good,” Peter chimed in. “Then we can get going. We’re already late to meet the others.”

They piled into the minivan, only his dad sat in back with him this time and Derek sat up front next to Peter. Stiles honestly didn’t know if he was more grateful or hurt by it. The short drive to the Clarke cabin was quiet and tense but they all made it there in one piece.

“Our apologies for the delay, but we had a small _altercation_ to deal with this morning,” Peter explained the Bryan, when the other Alpha greeted them.

“No need to apologize,” Bryan laughed. “The moon has been stirring up quite a bit of trouble here this morning as well. I’ve broken up three fights already and the day’s barely begun.”

“Nothing serious, I hope,” Peter inquired.

“Just little tussles over trivial matters,” Bryan said.

Stiles didn’t stick around to listen to the rest of their conversation and instead went in search of some of the others. Right now, even Jace would be better company than Derek.

He found the others quickly enough but it didn’t help his mood any. Everyone was agitated and on edge. The very air felt like it was charged and Stiles wouldn’t have been surprised if literal sparks started flying. Several of the adult werewolves were nearby, keeping an eye on them. They needed to do something to burn off some of their energy but any type of game was quickly vetoed because of the potential risk of fights breaking out. Finally it was decided that they should all go for a swim in the lake.

It turned out to be a great idea. The water helped cool off their tempers and, after a few rounds of swimming contests, everyone was much calmer. By the time lunch rolled around, Stiles was pretty much himself again.

Jace had managed to insinuated himself next to Stiles for most of the races and, as soon as they announced that the food was ready, he was badgering Stiles to eat with him again.

“Hey kiddo, can I have a word with you for a second,” his dad called to him.

“Sure,” Stiles said, then turned to face Jace. “I’ll catch up with you.”

His dad waited until Jace was a good distance away, before he faced Stiles.

“What’s up daddio,” Stiles joked.

“Just checking in with you,” his dad said. “After what happened this morning…”

“I’m fine dad, really,” Stiles assured. “This morning was just…I’m not going to attack anyone again. Scouts Honor.”

“You were never a scout,” his dad shot back with a wry smile.

“And whose fault is that for not signing me up for boy scouts?” he countered. “Those were probably some valuable life experiences I missed out on.”

“If you say so,” his dad laughed.

“I do say so,” Stiles said. “Now let’s get some food, I’m starving.”

“You going to be eating with that Jace boy again?” his dad queried.

“I might be,” Stiles said defensively. “Why?”

“It’s just that he’s not exactly _you type_ ,” his dad said.

“He’s practically Lydia Martin with a dick,” Stiles countered. “How is that not my type?”

“That’s kind of my point,” his dad defended. “I thought you’d moved on from Lydia Martin. And it’s not exactly fair to him, if you’re just using him as some kind of proxy for Lydia.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Stiles denied.

“I know you wouldn’t,” his dad said. “At least not intentionally.”

 “Well, it’s not like I have any better prospects,” Stiles huffed.

“You could always try looking a little closer to home,” his dad hinted.

“Afraid I’ll move away and never visit you,” Stiles joked.

“Like that would ever happen,” his dad agreed then gives him an exasperated look. “But I was referring to Derek.”

Anger flared up in him and he had to stop walking in order to suppress it for the most part.  
“Are you in on this with Laura?” he accused.

“In on wha—”

“Don’t even try to deny it,” Stiles growled. “She’s been trying to set up some fairy tale between us forever and now she’s dragged you into it too. Well, I can tell you with one thousand percent certainty that Derek does NOT see me like that and I wish you guys would just drop it!”

For a moment he thought that his dad would try to argue with him but instead he just told him to have a good lunch.

“Think I’ve just lost my appetite,” he muttered under his breath and started walking toward the cabin.

 

 

***Derek***

Derek watched the door for Stiles’ arrival. After this morning, he’d been racking his brain to try and think up with a way to fix things between them but so far he’d come up with a blank. He didn’t blame Stiles for lashing out at him but he also didn’t quite understand it either. The moon probably had a lot to do with but he couldn’t understand why Stiles kept taunting him. Stiles knew how Derek felt about him and he had to know how hard it was for Derek to act normal around him.

Still, sleeping out on the couch was a bit of a low move. They were pack after all.

Derek expected Stiles to arrive with Jace but was pleasantly surprised to see the redhead show up alone. Though Stiles followed him a few minutes later and took a seat next to him.

Most of the older members of the three packs were out setting something up, so it was just the younger members eating at the table. Still, lunch went a lot smoother than breakfast, now that everyone had worked off a lot of their excess energy. Everyone talked and joked. Inevitably the conversation turned to tonight’s full moon.

“You do know how important tonight it for werewolves, don’t you Stiles,” Erica asked mockingly.

“Just because I didn’t know about moonstones, doesn’t mean I’m totally ignorant,” Stiles sighed and then started rattling off facts like he was reciting a tutorial. “It’s, like, a werewolf’s biggest holiday. Even though science has only recently discovered the phenomenon they call the Perigee Moon, werewolves have known about it for centuries. They could always feel the effects of the largest and closest full moon of the year and celebrate it as a holiday. But every pack celebrates it differently with their own traditions.”

“How do you celebrate it?” Isaac asked curiously.

“Um, technically speaking this would be the first one I’ve ever celebrated,” Stiles replied.

“I thought you said you’ve been werewolf for two years already,” Erica said.

“I am,” Stiles protested. “But the first one I ever went through as a werewolf happened just a few months after I was bitten and I was still working on my control.”

“We’re a little bit to blame as well,” Laura chimed in. “Derek, Peter, and I haven’t really celebrated it in a while either.

 _Not since the fire_. Derek thought darkly.

The table was silent for a moment, before Jamie broke the somber mood.

“How did you use to celebrate then?” the little boy asked.

A small smile graced Laura’s lips and Derek knew she was thinking back to all the times the family had gathered together on those special nights.

“We used to decorate our house with all kinds of night blooming flower, white ribbons, and white balloons,” Laura explained.

As she spoke, Derek’s mind drifted back to those times. He could still remember the scent of those flowers. Moonflower, Evening Primrose, Night Phlox, Jasmine, Night Gladiolus, Evening Stock. It never mattered what time of year it was or, if the flowers were even in season. Somehow his mother and Uncle Peter would always arrange to fill the house with them. Even after they were gone, the scent of the flowers would linger throughout the house for days.

The white and silver streamers would be wound around staircase railings and above all the doorways. The dining room was the best. Hundreds of streamers would be hung around the room, all connecting at the crystal chandelier in the middle of the room, giving it a circus tent-like effect.

“We would all wear a least one piece of white clothing,” Laura continued. “Derek and my dad would be in white silk button-up shirts. In the warmer months, my mother and I would wear loose sundresses and cream colored turtleneck sweaters, in the colder months. And everyone would usually wear some kind of moon-shaped jewelry.”

Derek remembered how soft and comfortable the white silk shirt his mother got him was and the large moonstone ring he wore that was just a little too large for his fingers.

“When I was younger, I had these pretty crescent-shaped, moonstone barrettes,” Laura remembered with a sigh. “I wore them every year.”

“We always wear our fanciest moonstone jewelry at home too,” Alicia added. “It’s how we take our annual family/pack picture without the lens flare from our eyes.”

“And we call it Lunaria,” Laura continued. “My mother used to say that moonlight was ‘musique de la Lune’—the music of the moon—that the moon sings to her children. Because the Perigee Moon is the largest and brightest moon of the year it is considered her most beautiful the song of all. Though I’ve heard that some of our more distant relatives in call it ‘Loup Nuit,’ Wolf Night.”

“Yeah, we call it Lunarmas,” Norman cut in. “Like ‘lunar’ and ‘Christmas’ put together because we kinda celebrate it like a werewolf Christmas. We hand up all the Christmas lights—at least, the white ones—and we even exchange gifts.”

“Don’t tell me you’re expecting gifts,” Stiles joked. “Because I did not get that memo.”

“Nah, we’re saving our gifts for when we get back home,” Boyd assured.

“Except for the one you got Erica,” Alicia said.

“You got me a gift?” Erica asked with genuine shock.

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Boyd glared at his little sister but he eased up when Erica kissed him on the cheek.

“Well, we celebrate it a little differently in our pack,” Erica stated. “We call it ‘noche de la Luna más brillante’ night of the brightest moon or ‘Luna Brillante’ for short. We aren’t allowed to turn on any electric lights on this night and instead we light tons of white candles. Sometimes we make little papier-mâché moons for decorations but most of the time we hand little crystals from the windows to catch the moonlight. They’re supposed to be good luck until the next Luna Brillante.”

She raised her wrist to show off a charm bracelet with a large crystal charm attached to it.

“And, of course, Nana Olivia just has to listen to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ every year,” Erica laughed.

“And the candies!” Jamie piped up. “We make the best little moon-shaped candies just for tonight.”

“We make moon-shaped sugar cookies,” Nancy said. “And for breakfast we always make poached eggs and crescent rolls. When we were younger, our parents used to even cut our sandwiches for lunch into little circle and crescent shapes.”

“And the Cake!” Alicia said. “We always have a huge cake with vanilla frosting, like the moon.”

“Same here,” Erica said.

“I think that’s a universal tradition,” Laura laughed. “We loved it because it was the one time of year we were allowed to eat dessert first.”

“Our mom used to make this special angel food cake, but it was rounded.” Derek spoke up for the first time.

“Aren’t most cakes round,” Jace asked sardonically.

Derek shot him a dark look that mostly shut him up, but he could feel himself flushing.

“I meant that not just the sides were rounded but the top was too,” he tried to illustrate his point by moving his hands around an imaginary sphere in front of him, but he just felt like even more of an idiot. It felt like everyone was staring at him in a mixture of pity and amusement.

“A bombe,” Stiles chimed in, looking at Derek for the first time since that morning.

Everyone’s attention was instantly focused on Stiles and he was immensely grateful for that.

“Not a bomb, like explosion,” Stiles quickly elaborated, while miming an explosion with his hands. “It’s ‘bombe’ with an ‘e’ at the end. It’s a type of half-sphere shaped cake. That’s what you meant, right?”

“Yes, that’s exactly right,” Laura answered and Derek nodded mutely.

“And how are you so knowledgeable about that kind of stuff,” Erica teased. “Is Berkeley really just code for culinary school.”

“Home Cooking Network,” Stiles replied proudly. “It’s addicting.”

“So, that’s why it was special, because it was sphere-shaped, like the moon?” Isaac inquired.

“That was only part of it,” Derek continued, a little more confident now that Stiles had gotten him out of that situation. “Every year, she made it entirely from scratch. Then she would make her own vanilla icing and decorated it to look like the craters of the moon.”

“She would also have a theme for each one, depending on which month Lunaria fell on that year,” Laura took over. “If it was the Flower Moon in May, then she would decorate it with sugared flowers. If it was the Strawberry Moon in June, then there would be fresh strawberries baked in it.”

“I’d hate to see March’s,” Jace said with an exaggerated shudder.

“The Worm Moon was the best,” Derek defended. “For that month, she made the bottom layer out of devil’s food cake, so it would look like dirt, and filled it with gummy worms.”

“That sounds awesome!” Stiles

“It was,” Derek agreed with a wistful smile. Nostalgia of remembering all the good times he had before the fire and Stiles look at him with something other than anger in his eyes was doing wonders on his mood.

The fact that Stiles also glared at Jace every time he made a rude remark about his family’s traditions also helped.

“So what did she make for the Wolf Moon in January?” Jamie asked, curiously. “That one had to be really special.”

Like a candle suddenly being blown out, all the smiles and lightness were gone. Derek and Laura both wilted in the space of a heartbeat and the bitter scent of sadness wafted off of them. Derek, even more that Laura, practically collapsed in on himself. Everyone at the table became tense and nervous.

The Fire. 

Not only had Kate Argent attacked his family, but she had also done it on their most special holiday. What made it a thousand times worse, in Derek’s mind, was that Kate had planned it that way. For centuries, hunters had known that werewolves had a special holiday, but they could never figure out when because it never happened on the same day every year or even the same month.

They could never see the pattern, until the year his parents were murdered. About a month or so after the fire, Derek had been unable to sleep and just sitting on the couch watching late night television, when a repeat of an astronomy special came on. It talked all about this new astrological concept of a Perigee Supermoon. A quick google search confirmed that that discovery was announced just a few week prior to the attack on his family, including the exact date of the next one.

 _She planned it that way!_ He had realized with a start. Kate had taken a day that was supposed to be full of happiness and celebration and forever linked it with sadness and loss for the Hales. She didn’t just want to kill them; she wanted it to hurt too. Like a psycho murdering a family at Christmas, she wanted to completely destroy that special even for them.

And he and Laura would never know what their mother’s final cake would have been.

_There isn’t a place in hell that’s horrible enough for Kate Argent. The Devil should invent one just for her and her father._

Without even realizing what was happening, he’d suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him and gently nuzzled his shoulder. Derek went still and stiff for a moment, before he relaxed into Stiles’ embrace. For a moment, he let himself forget and just enjoyed the comfort Stiles gave him.

“So what would happen after the cake?” Boyd asked, trying to change the subject. “You said you guys got dessert first, what was for dinner?”

The question was directed at Derek but Laura was the one who answered.

“As soon as the moon rose, we would hunt together in the Preserve,” Laura explained softly. “We usually took down a few deer so that everyone got some of the best bits. After that we would spend the rest of the night running and playing in the forest. Then we would gather together and watch the moon set below the horizon. By morning, we would all be so exhausted that we would pile onto Mom and Dad’s king-sized bed and pass out.”

“Yeah, that what we do too,” Erica said, and everyone else around the table nodded their heads in agreement.

The conversation turned to funny stories that happened on previous years. Derek stayed silent but his mood lighted considerably thanks to Stiles keeping a soothing arm around him for the rest of the meal. Jace was pouting about it and that only made his wolf happier.

His happy feeling didn’t last. As soon as they were done eating, Jace started badgering Stiles to go do something with him. Derek didn’t wait around for Stiles to make some lame excuse to leave him. Instead he abruptly got up and headed toward the woods. He didn’t realize anyone was following him until he heard Stiles yelling.

“What the heck is wrong with you?” Stiles exclaimed, running up to him. “First you completely ditch me during a challenge, then you’re all over me like I’m made out of glass, then you avoid me, then you seem to like me again, and now you’re avoiding me again. You won’t talk to me. You’re actively avoiding me. I feel like I should bring you to a doctor to diagnose you with bi-polar disorder or something.”

Derek gritted his teeth. _Why did Stiles have to make this so hard?_

“I didn’t treat you like a damsel in distress; I was just worried about your fight with Boyd,” Derek justified.

“Yeah, so worried that you had to avoid me for the entire rest of the day and not even come back to the room we me,” Stiles snorted. “And, in case you didn’t notice, I won my fight with Boyd.”

“It was a tie,” Derek countered.

“I still held my own,” Stiles growled.

Over Stiles’ shoulder, he spotted Jace looking at them just out of hearing range.

“I’m sure Jace was real impressed,” Derek huffed.

“What does Jace have to do with this,” Stiles asked confused.

_Yes, because your sex life is none of my business, after you rejected my claiming bite._

He may not have the right to comment on Stiles’ love life but he at least wanted to warn Stiles about Jace.

“Jace just wants to get into your pants,” Derek hissed. “He’s not interested in something serious, he just wants an easy fuck.”

Stiles recoiled like Derek had slapped him.

“Yeah, well not everyone can be built like and Adonis and have people just falling at their feet for them,” Stiles said venomously.

_What?_

“That’s not wha—”

“You know what, save it. I don’t even want to hear it,” Stiles spat. “I’m going to go and try to enjoy the rest of this pack gathering and then I can’t wait to get back to Berkeley.”

Stiles stormed off and his wolf howled pitifully for him to go after the other wolf but instead he just stood there.

 _What difference would it make?_ He thought dejectedly. _Stiles already made it clear that he doesn’t feel the same._

“Derek, what just happened?” Laura asked, coming over to him. “What happened?”

“Just go away, Laura,” Derek said sullenly.

“Derek please, I don’t know exactly what you two are fighting about but just go and talk to him about it,” Laura pleaded. “This is just a misunderstanding. You can fix things between you.”

“Some things can’t be fixed,” he snarled and stalked off.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it. I'm pretty happy with how the different werewolf traditions came out. I know I ended it on a bad note between Stiles and Derek but hopefully the smut in the next chapter will make up for it.
> 
> Comments and critiques are always welcome and you can find me on tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	11. Chapter 11

 

***Stiles***

He wanted to scream. He wanted to rip something apart. Most of all he just wanted to curl up in a ball and make it all go away. When this week had first started, he’d been so happy and excited and now he just wanted it to be over.

Desperately needed a distraction from what just happened. He followed the sound of noise and soon came across most of the others all busy setting up decorations and putting table cloths on the picnic tables. It was a hodgepodge of Christmas lights and white streamers, just like everyone had been talking about only a little while ago at lunch.

He spotted Laura and Peter speaking off to his right. Forcing himself not to listen in, he could still see Laura gesturing furiously and Peter simply shaking his head. Wanting to avoid them and the pestering about his fight with Derek they were sure to confront him about, he attached himself to nearest cluster of people stringing up Christmas lights and gave them a hand. The rest of the afternoon passed like that, helping out here and there and was almost able take his mind off his fight with Derek.

When everything was set up, he had to admit that it looked really nice. If the circumstances were different, he might have enjoyed it more. As it was, Stiles going around in a fog, talking to people on autopilot and not even registering. Stiles was suppressing any feeling at all, knowing that the second he stopped being angry he would completely break down.

*

Moonrise was fast approaching and everyone starting to get a little antsy again. Even the human members of the three packs weren’t immune to the rising excitement. The calm they’d gained from swimming had long since worn off. But Stiles knew it was more than just the moon riling them up. It was also the fact that they were all there together miles from any city or town.

Even back home in the Preserve, they always had to be careful, ever mindful that someone could stumble across them and discover their secret. But being here was different. They were the only ones around for miles in one of the largest National Parks in the entire country, with three entire packs as protection from any threat. Their wolves could sense this feeling of safety and pressed even harder than normal to be let loose.

There would be no stories tonight. No one would be able to sit still for them. Instead they were all waiting. Some food was brought out and Stiles vaguely remembered his dad handing him a large slice of cake. Later he wouldn’t be able to even recall what flavor it had been.

Time seemed to drag on forever, until the first sliver of moon appeared on the horizon. As soon as it appeared, they were off, sprinting into the forest like their lives depended on it. The Alphas didn’t even try to hold them back.

Briefly, Stiles thought that he should maybe try to find and stick with his pack but that thought flew out of his head when Isaac came up to run beside him. It felt right. For tonight, at least, they were all one big pack.

Racing through the woods, he felt the moon’s light on him like a physical force. He understood now why the Hales called the perigee, the moon’s greatest song. Movies and anime always portrays the music relating to the moon as soft and sweet, like a gentle lullaby. To a werewolf, it’s anything but gentle. It pounds in their veins like a drum, urging them on. The closest comparison Stiles could think of was the deafening base beat of music at a rave. But no human rave could ever come close to the raw and feral excitement of a full moon run with werewolves.

The human part of his mind was completely dormant, as he tore through the woods with the others. Time seemed to lose all meaning and he had no idea how long they had been running for when they scented their prey. The smell of a large herd of deer met his nose and his mouth watered. The others must have smelt it too, because Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Alicia, and he broke off from the others and fell into an easy hunting formation, like they had been running together for years.

The deer heard them or saw them coming and started to scatter but it didn’t matter. Tonight they were unstoppable. Running on pure instinct, they put to use all the skills they had been competing at for the past three days and together brought down a large doe, Erica delivering the killing blow. They howled their triumph to the night, hearing several others doing the same.

Bloodlust sated, Stiles’ human mind started reemerging. Looking around, he could see the same was happening to the others as well.  The energy and excitement was still thrumming in his veins but it was more bearable now, like turning down the volume on an action movie. The need to get up and do something was rising again but they had already eaten their fill and wolves only hunt for food, not sport. So, instead they started what could only be described as the most epic game of tag ever played.

What started out as just the five of them, soon grew to include nearly every werewolf from the three packs. Everyone was laughing and showing off, not least of all himself. Dashing and weaving through the trees, he absolutely no idea who was even ‘it’ but he could care less. He couldn’t remember ever having more fun in his life.

He had just finished a rather impressive kick flip off of the lower branch of a tree, when someone tackled him midair. Landing with a thud, he thought, _I guess I’m ‘it’ now._

Squirming to try and knock whoever it was off so he could get up and start chasing the others, he was confused and annoyed to find that the other person wasn’t allowing him to get up. He had just enough room to turn over and see Jace’s leering face hovering over him. A different kind of predatory look gleamed in his eyes.

Then, without warning, Jace leaned down and kissed him. The human part of his mind was frozen in shock, but the wolf in him wasn’t. _This is wrong! This is not my mate!_ Snarling in rage, he slashed across Jace’s chest, claws digging as deep as they could into his flesh given the small amount of space between them.

Jace immediately jumped off of him with a startled yelp, much to Stiles’ enjoyment. He felt a small pang of guilt at hurting the other wolf but his accelerated healing would patch him up in no time. Besides, Jace looked more shocked than hurt.

He recovered quickly though and quickly covered his surprised indignation with a suggestive smirk, “Well, who knew you’d be that kinky.”

“I’m not,” Stiles glared.

“Oh come on,” Jace sighed. “We’ve been circling each other this entire week. Are you really still gonna play hard to get.”

“I’m not playing anything,” Stiles growled. “I’m just not interested in you that way.”

“So you’re, what, friend zoning me?” Jace scoffed.

“More like I’m douchbag zoning you,” Stiles retorted.

“Look, it’s not like I’m asking for a mating bite or anything,” Jace rolled his eyes. “I just think you and I could be hot together. And, if nothing else, we could probably have some great sex. Especially now, with the moon so powerful tonight.”

He really didn’t want to stand there and listen to Jace talk about the two of them having sex because, no matter how hot he was, Stiles’ entire being revolted at that thought but something in Jace’s words triggered a memory in his mind. Of his first heat and a bite Derek had given him that lasted much longer than his werewolf healing should have allowed.

“Wait, what!?!” he exclaimed

“Sex,” Jace enunciated slowly. “I’d really like— ”

“No—I mean yes—I mean NO—I mean, what did you just say?” Stiles demanded, getting right in Jace’s face. “About a mating bite?”

“I said I’m not expecting a mating bit or a claiming bite or whatever name it goes by in your pack. I jus—

“What the heck is a mating bite?” Stiles cut him off.

For the first time since they met, Jace looked utterly flabbergasted.

“You can’t be serious,” Jace asked astounded? “How can you not know about a mating bite? How could you have been a werewolf this long without knowing this?”

“Well, _excuse me_ ,” he said defensively. “But I was a little bit busy dealing with rogue Alphas, Hunters, and College to worry about proper wolfy courting behavior.”

“But, your pack should have told you about—and your wolf would—”

“Well they didn’t, so maybe you’d care to enlighten me.”

“A mating bite is a special kind of bite you give to someone that you want to be your mate, obviously,” Jace lectured. “If the person accepts, then they bite you back.”

“So it’s, what, a werewolf marriage vow?”

“Not really,” Jace shrugged. “They’re not permanent. The bites eventually fade; they just take longer to heal. Mated pairs tend to renew their bites quite often, usually during sex. They’re more of a sign to other wolves that you’re already taken.”

“You said that, if the person accepts, then they bite you back,” Stiles said, dread creeping up his spine. “What happens, if the other person doesn’t bite you back?”

“Then they’re not interested in you,” Jace stated.

Realization hit Stiles like a punch to the gut.

_Derek gave me a mating bite. He wanted me as his mate._

Some of his inner turmoil must have shown on his face because, when Jace spoke again, his tone was gentler. “God, you really didn’t know any of this did you?” Jace said thoughtfully.

Stiles just shook his head numbly.

So many things made sense now that he was amazed he didn’t see it sooner. He was supposed to be the smart one. How could he not have realized this before? Derek had always been an ‘actions speak louder than words’ kind of guy. And practically everyone had been telling them all along. He’d ignored them because Derek had never kissed him, but what was a kiss compared to a mating bite?

_I have to find him, like, RIGHT NOW!_

“Yeah, this was never gonna work,” Stiles told Jace, gesturing between the two of them. “You’re smoking hot and brilliant, but you’re also kind of a dick and I just had the mother of all epiphanies, so it’s not gonna happen. I gotta go. I have to find—I just have to go.”

Not bothering to wait for a response, he turned on his heels and his wolf practically screaming at him to find Derek. He didn’t get far before he heard Jace calling out to him.

“Stiles wait!”

Against his better judgment, he stopped and turned to look back at Jace.

“You’re going to need this,” Jace shouted and tossed something to him.

Stiles caught it out of pure reflex and brought it up to eyelevel. It was small packet of lube.

“Let it never be said that I don’t know when to bow out gracefully,” Jace chuckled, while Stiles gaped. “Or, if he’s interested, I’d be open to a threesome.”

He snarled at the very idea of sharing Derek with anyone else, especially now that he knew he had a real chance with him.

“Okay, don’t bite my head off,” Jace held his hands up in mock surrender.

Not wanting to waste another second, he tore off in the opposite direction in search of Derek. As he ran, his mind raced to reprocess all the things he’d never realized in the past two years.

 _There had been so many signs. He sent me his shirt to scent mark me, while I was at Berkeley for cryin’ out loud!_ Stiles screamed at himself.

He thought about all the times Derek had insisted on paying for his food, whenever they went out to eat. His mind then jumped to his first Heat. How Derek made sure he ate enough food, before knotting him a second time and how he had refused to let Stiles pay for the pizzas they ordered later. Or how he had pointedly stood in-between him and the delivery guy. Protecting him and providing for him like a good mate

Stiles’ mind was momentarily stuck on imagining Derek carrying a huge buck on his shoulder and leaving it on his doorstep.

_Now that I would have understood perfectly._

He nearly tripped over himself, when he thought back to all the arguments they’d had over the past few days. How completely ridiculous they were in retrospect and what an idiotic ass he must have sounded like.

Scenting the air, he caught the faintest hind of Derek’s scent on the wind. It pushed him to run even harder, desperation urging him on.

_Have to find Derek! Have to make this right!_

 

 

***Derek***

Derek had never been more grateful for moonrise in his life. It was exactly what he needed, to just completely surrender to the wolf in him. Running through the forest with La Luna’s song singing in his veins, he forgot his heartache for a little while.

It had been so long since they truly celebrate Lunaria. In the past, Peter, Laura, and he would just run in the Preserve like it was any other full moon, maybe with even less enthusiasm. But tonight was different. Running with the other packs, the ever-present weight of his parents’ deaths seemed a little lighter. He had to fight the constant urge to seek out Stiles but other than that, he was enjoying himself.

He thought he might just be able to make it through the rest of this trip, when a familiar voice called out his name.

“DEREK!” Stiles yelled, barreling towards him.

Part of him was overjoyed to see Stiles but he was still apprehensive. They had left things on a bad note the last time they talked and he wasn’t eager to get into another fight.

“Stiles,” he said coolly.

“Did you want me to bite you?” Stiles panted without preamble. “When you were in Heat. And I helped you through it. You stretched out your neck, when you came. Was that just a reaction because you were in heat or did you specifically want me to bite you?”

Anger rose up in him. _Bad enough you rejected me, now you want to rub salt in the wound by making me say it out loud._

“Really Stiles,” Derek growled. “We’re going to do this now. You can’t even let me enjoy this one night.”

“Answer the question, Derek,” Stiles barked.

“It doesn’t matter, if I wanted you to give me a claiming bite?” he huffed. _You rejected me._

“It matters quite a lot, actually, considering I just learned what the hell a mating bit or claiming bite was, literally FIVE MINUTES AGO!”

Derek couldn’t have been more shocked, if a bolt of lightning had struck him.

“What do you mean, you just found out what a claiming bite was,” he asked. “Your wolf should have known.”

“I’m a bitten wolf, dude!”

“Don’t call me dude,” Derek said reflexively. “And you still have the same instincts as a born wolf; I’ve seen you use them.”

“Just because my wolf wants to do something, doesn’t mean I always do it,” Stiles retorted.  “I mean, my wolf usually wants me to pee on the fence around my house so that Mrs. Adler’s annoying little dog won’t come into our yard but I don’t actually do that. I don’t even know _why_ my wolf wants to do half of the stuff it wants to do sometimes. It’s not like it has the vernacular skill to explain things to me. It can’t just sit me down and give me the talk about the dos and don’ts of werewolf courting.”

He was still in too much shock to respond but Stiles kept rambling on.

“And you always used to get all weird whenever I would bite you during training,” Stiles continued. “You would freak out and storm off, so I figured doing it during sex was an even bigger no-no. Because believe me, if I’d known what a claiming bite was, I would have been biting you every freaking day!”

“You never said anything,” Derek grasped at straws.

“It’s not like you said anything either!” Stiles shot back.

“But you had to have realized how I felt,” Derek stated. “It was obvious.”

“Not to ME! My skills are many and varied, but telepathy is not among them,” Stiles shouted! “I mean, come on, we’ve been through two heats together and you’ve _never once_ kissed me. I think—”

He didn’t remember moving. Didn’t know if it was his wolf or him or some combination of the both of them, but he was suddenly right on top of Stiles, smashing him mouth on the younger boy’s. There was no technique or finesse. It was frantic and uncoordinated, all clashing teeth and probably a busted lip. It had to be one of the worst first kisses in history.

It was perfect.

Hungrily, he slipped his tongue between Stiles’ lips and explored his mouth. Stiles tasted even better than he imagined. He felt himself hardening in his shorts, and ground his hips into Stiles.

“No! You are NOT distracting me with kisses,” Stiles whined in-between kisses. “Wonderful, toe-curling kisses from surprisingly soft lips…No! We are talking about this, because we’ve already wasted waaaaay too much time on account of miscommunication.”

“Do you want me?” Derek asked, almost scared of the answer, even though he could feel Stiles hard-on.

“More than anything,” Stiles breathed, heartbeat was accelerated but steady and truthful. “And you.”

“I’ve never wanted anyone else,” Derek admitted.

Stiles initiated the kiss that time, just as frantically as the first.

“We shouldn’t,” Derek broke away, hating himself for saying it but not wanting to trap Stiles into a relationship.

“What!” Stiles exclaimed.

“You should enjoy your time at college and try and have a normal relationship,” Derek said.

“You think I haven’t _tried_ ,” Stiles panted.

Derek couldn’t stop himself from recapturing Stiles’ mouth with a growl at hearing that.

“Dude, it was impossible for me to even think about anyone else,” Stiles gasped. “And now that I know that you and me is an actual, for real, possibility—”

“Why wouldn’t you and I have been a possibility?”

“Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?”

“Have you?” Derek countered.

Stiles just grabbed his bicep and pulled him closer.

“If we do this you’ll be stuck with me,” Derek informed him, wanting Stiles to know exactly what he was getting into. “I’m broody and scarred and kind of an asshole.”

“Pretty sure I knew that from the moment we first met,” Stiles shot back with a smirk.

“And I’m possessive,” he growled, clutching Stiles’ hips. “If we do this, you’re _mine_. I’ll never let you go and I’ll kill anyone who tries to take you from me.

He wasn’t lying. It was a little frightening to himself to hear it out loud.

“Still not hearing a down side to this,” Stiles smirked.

“You’re still young—”

“My mom and dad started dating in their junior year of high school,” Stiles cut him off. “They never once broke up, never took a break. They were together until she died. That was ten years ago and he still wears his wedding ring. When a Stilinski falls in love, they fall hard. And they never let go.”

Derek couldn’t think of any more arguments. Didn’t want to.

They tore at each other’s clothes, needing to be rid of every barrier between them. Derek never wore a shirt on a full moon run, but Stiles did. He knew that Stiles still felt self-conscious but, if Derek had his way, Stiles would never wear a shirt again. Carefully extending his claws, he shredded Stiles’ shirt to ribbons. Stiles gave a small squawk of protest that quickly transformed into a moan, when Derek got a hand down his pants and gripped his fully hardened cock.

“Fuck Derek!” Stiles whined.

“That’s the idea,” Derek purred, quickly stripping off their remaining clothes.

Somehow they ended up on the soft, mossy forest floor. Their hands busily exploring each other’s bodies. They’ve seen and felt everything before, but this time was different. This time they weren’t stealing touches. This time they were truly marking each other, claiming each other in their greedy embrace.

His skin felt electric and every touch sent jolts through his body. It reminded him of when he’d been in Heat only intensified.

They just couldn’t stop touching each other. He didn’t know it was their wolves’ urge to scent mark each other or just the realization that they could touch each other like this, but they just had to feel and taste every inch of each other’s skin. If Stiles wanted kisses, then he would kiss every inch of Stiles’ body.

Starting by nibbling Stiles’ earlobe, Derek began making his way down Stiles’ body with exquisite precision. He paid special attention to Stiles’ tender throat, licking and nipping at it gently. He teased Stiles by gently pressing his still human teeth right over the jugular, only to have Stiles moan shamelessly and stetch his neck further.

“Oh God, Derek!” Stiles shuddered, thrusting his hips towards him.

“Shhhh, we’ve got all night,” Derek soothed, nuzzling the column of Stiles’ throat, rubbing his stubble against the delicate skin there.

“The others might come looking for us,” Stiles gasped.

“Don’t care,” Derek grunted.

Part of him hope the other did stumble upon them. His wolf rumbled enthusiastically at the thought of them seeing him claim Stiles. Of them seeing that Stiles was _his._

A similar thought must have passed through Stiles’ mind because the spicy scent of arousal wafting off of him intensified.

Derek continued his progress down Stiles’ body, nibbling the graceful wings of his collarbones and licking into the hollow at the base of his throat. He then made his way down Stiles’ chest, paying close attention to his rosy nipples. Swirling his tongue around one, he gently pinched the other, eliciting little mewls of pleasure from Stiles. His fangs started to come out of their own volition and he used one of them to lightly graze across Stiles’ tender nub. That earned him a full-fledged moan from Stiles’ lips.

Stiles was fully hard and leaking against his stomach. The smell alone made Derek salivate, as he licked up the clear fluid, careful to avoid Stiles’ throbbing cock. He savored the taste of it on his tongue, as he made his way lower. With a high-pitched whine, Stiles thrust his hips up, trying to get Derek to pay attention back on his groin, but Derek had moved to bite at the sharp angle of his hips. From there moved down to gently run his claws down Stiles’ legs, focusing particularly the little cluster of marks on the inner left thigh.

“Derek _please_ ,” Stiles begged and bucked his hips again.

Unable to deny Stiles anything, he lifted his head up and licked one lone stripe up the underside of Stiles’ cock.

“No! No foreplay,” Stiles looked directly at him, pupils blown with only the slightest ring of glowing iris. “I can’t take it. Not tonight. I need you inside of me, now. Yesterday. Hell, two freaking years ago.”

Derek agreed wholeheartedly. They had tortured themselves long enough. His own errection was almost painful with the need to be inside his mate.

“Lube, we need lube,” Stiles panted heavily. “I don’t care what fanfiction and bad porn says, saliva is not enough.”

“We don’t have any,” Derek cursed in frustration.

He racked his brain to think where they could get some but he came up blank.

“Front pocket of my shorts,” Stiles groaned.

Fumbling for Stiles’ discarded shorts, he quickly located a packet of lube in the front pocket. Jealously made his vision turn red.

“Who were you expecting to use this with tonight,” Derek accused.

“Not mine,” Stiles rolled his eyes, much to Derek’s confusion. “A parting gift from Jace.”

Derek growled angrily at the mention of the other werewolf and eyed the packet suspiciously. Tearing off the top edge, he sniffed it but couldn’t detect anything but the smell of lube.

“I don’t think he would have tampered with it, if he’d been expecting to use it with me himself,” Stiles laughed.

“There isn’t much,” Derek huffed.

“Enough for one,” Stiles agreed.

“It doesn’t have to be me,” Derek offered. His wolf was roaring to fuck Stiles; to knot and breed him. To fill him up with his cum, so that everyone could smell him on Stiles. But he also wanted to give Stiles a choice. “You could—”

“I want you to fuck me,” Stiles stated. “And I know your wolf is going crazy to fill me up with your cum, but lets get one thing clear. I’m no one’s bitch. We’re equals in this and that means the second we get somewhere with more lube, your ass is **_mine_**.”

Shivers of anticipation ran up his spine and his dick twitched in interest. He definitely liked it, when Stiles got bossy. Stiles just smirked at the effect he had on him and pressed another hungry kiss to his mouth. Then Stiles started to shift and turn over onto his stomach, when Derek placed a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“No, I want to see you, when I claim you,” Derek growled. “I want to watch you fall apart, when I make you mine.”

It was Stiles’ turn to shiver now, as he obligingly lay back down and opened his legs further for Derek. He growled low at the sight Stiles offered. Retracting his claws, he squeezed lube on his fingers. The first finger he slipped inside of Stiles made them both groan. When Derek added a second finger, Stiles reached his hands down to pull his thighs even further apart, desperate for more. Derek didn’t know how much more he could take. He was ready to come undone just from the sight of his fingers inside of Stiles.

After three fingers, Stiles was sobbing for Derek to fuck him. He had just enough lube to slick up his dick, ringing our every possible drop out of the packet, before tossing it aside. He grabbed Stiles hip with one hand and used the other to guide his cock to Stiles’ entrance. The head of his cock had barely made it past Stiles’ rim, before Stiles keened. Digging his claws into Stiles’ hip, he thrust in, until he was completely sheathed in Stiles’ body.

Moans and gasps pilled the air, though Derek wouldn’t have been able to say who made which. Reaching blindly, Derek grasped Stiles’ hands in his own, entwining their fingers and using them to anchor him in the moment. They’d only just started but he could already fell a pressure starting to build at the base of his dick.

After several moments, he finally gained enough control to begin thrusting. Stiles whined, when he first pulled back from him, but quickly adapted. Stiles met him thrust for thrust, slamming their bodies together with wild abandon. Derek would be ashamed at how quickly his climax was building, if it weren’t for the frantic need he felt to knot and claim his mate. It wasn’t long, before his knot was swelling, locking the two of them together. Pulling Stiles flush against his chest, he ground their hips together.

Watching Stiles’ face, he saw those wonderfully plump lips fall open into an ‘O’ and his eyes roll back into his head. He felt Stiles’ entire body shudder and a liquid warmth spread between them. Seeing his mate reach his release and feeling Stiles’ body squeeze his knot was enough to send Derek over the edge.

With a feral roar, he buried his fangs into the junction of Stiles’ neck. He experienced a split-second of fear that Stiles would once again reject him, before he felt Stiles’ fangs sink into his own flesh. A howl of pure joy ripped itself from his throat and into the night, quickly joined by Stiles’ own patching one.

“That was awesome,” Stiles sighed, his body gone completely lax in Derek’s arms.

Derek could only muster a low purr-like growl in agreement, as he contently licked and nuzzled his mark on Stiles’ neck.

“We’re doing this every full moon,” Stiles continued.

Derek just chuckled and reclaimed Stiles’ mouth in a searing kiss. He spent the better part of the next hour coaxing as many orgasms out of his mate as he possibly could, until they were both exhausted and well sated. Even after his knot receded, he still held himself inside his mate. La Luna’s song came to an end not long after, as the moon set below the horizon. The last fading notes lulled them to sleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it. It's been a while since I wrote any smut but I think it came out okay.
> 
> The last chapter is some fluffy and funny afterwords, dealing with the morning after as well as a look into Derek and Stiles' future.
> 
> Comments and critiques are always welcome and encouraged. Or you can follow me on tumblr at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

***Stiles***

Stiles didn’t want to wake up.

He was having the most perfect dream that he had confessed his undying love for Derek and that Derek had returned those feeling, quickly followed by some mind blowing sex under the full moon. It had been so realistic that he swore he could still smell the lube and cum and their two scents mixed together.

But that couldn’t true. Maybe he’d gotten moondrunk and hallucinated the whole thing. Or maybe Erica had slipped something into his drink last night.

Even knowing that it was a dream, it didn’t stop Stiles from wanting to enjoy it for as long as possible. The warmth of Derek’s strong arms wrapped around him, the soft puff of his breath against his neck. It was all too good and he didn’t want to let it go. He just wanted a few more minutes of this, before he woke up to an empty bed and an awkward breakfast.

There was only one thing marring this perfect moment; a feather-light, tickling sensation that crawled across his back and over his arm. He tried to ignore it and sink back to sleep, but it kept on picking at the back of his mind.

 _Ants._ His brain supplied. _There’s a trail of ants crawling on me. How did ants get in the cabin? Did I leave the door open when I came in last night?_

Grudgingly, Stiles opened his eyes just the tiniest sliver. The sight that greeted him caused his heart to skip a beat.

Derek!

The older man’s normally stern features softened by sleep and the gentle rays of sunlight that filtered down through the canopy of leaves overhead. He shifted minutely, only to find Derek’s arms were firmly locked around his torso and there was no way that Stiles would be able to slip away without waking him.

Not that Stiles _wanted_ to slip away.

Crystal clear memories of last night flooded his mind and he had to tongue his lip to keep from howling in delight.

 _Screw Christmas miracles._ He thought elatedly. _From now on, I’m putting all my faith in Lunaria miracles._

Still not quite believing his eyes, he cautiously reached up and lightly stroked a finger Derek’s sharp cheekbone and down to his stubble-covered jaw. Derek stirred, squeezing Stiles tighter, as he started to wake.

“Morning,” Stiles sighed, not even trying to hide the wide grin splitting his face.

“Morning,” Derek mumbled, his voice ruff and growling from sleep.

It was so adorable and sexy that Stiles couldn’t help himself. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to Derek’s. Judging by the enthusiasm Derek returned the kiss with, he didn’t seem to mind. It was a slow, passionate kiss, not one that was leading up to something but just to enjoy the feeling of lips touching lips.

“We should probably get up, before any other critters decide to use us as a jungle gym,” Stiles sighed, as they parted.

The two of them looked down at the line of ants traversing their bodies, like little mountaineers, completely oblivious to the fact that they were currently walking over two dangerous apex predators.

“I think you may be right,” Derek chuckled.

“Of course,” Stiles said. “I’m always right. Haven’t you learned that by now?”

“I guess you’ll just have to teach me,” Derek replied.

It was corny and sweet and it just melted Stiles’ heart.

They carefully brushed off the ants and got up off the forest floor, a task made infinitely harder by the fact that neither of them wanted to let go of the other. Eventually they got to their feet and stretched, muscles sore in the best way possible. Flaky, dried cum was crusted on their chests and abdomens. They brushed off as much as they could but there wasn’t much they could do about that, until they go to a shower. Though part of Stiles was quite pleased at how long his scent had had to soak into Derek’s skin.

Next they looked around for their clothes that had been haphazardly discarded last night. Stiles’ shirt and boxers were beyond saving, curtsey of Derek’s claws and lack of patience. You couldn’t even make a cleaning rag out of the shreds that were left. Thankfully, his shorts were still in one piece. Derek’s clothes had fared significantly better and weren’t far away either. When Derek naked form disappeared from view under his clothes, Stiles couldn’t suppress a little disappointed whine.

_He should never be allowed to wear clothes, like, ever. Unless other people are around, then I’m putting him in a parka._

“So, what do you think our chances of sneaking back into the cabin, before anyone sees us are?” Stiles asked when they were dressed.

“Slim to none,” Derek answered matter-of-factly.

“That’s what I thought.”

He was contemplating their chances of being able to climb through a window unnoticed, when Derek came up behind him, wrapped those muscled arms around him, pressed his face into Stiles’ neck and inhaled deeply. Then Derek started licking the still fresh claiming bite at the junction of where Stiles’ neck met his shoulder. Pleasure and warmth shot through his body.

“We’re never gonna get anywhere, if you keep that up,” Stiles moaned and arched back into his mate.

His mate.

That was going to take some time to get used to.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Derek growled and nipped his ear.

 _Oh yeah!_ He could definitely get used to cuddly, playful Derek.

“If we were in a bedroom, then it would be no problem,” Stiles whimpered. “But how here, in the open, where anyone could see us in our naked glory…”

Derek growled darkly and gripped him tighter. “Mine.”

And Stiles really shouldn’t be as turned on by his mate’s possessiveness as he was.

Derek was much more willing to get back to the cabin after that and practically dragged Stiles along in his wake. Stiles may have loved his caveman-like behavior just a little bit too much. It wasn’t too long until they were nearing their cabin. They could hear Peter, Laura, and his dad’s unmistakable heartbeats inside and they braced themselves.

“Well, here we go,” Stiles said softly, slipping his hand into Derek’s and lacing their fingers together.

They walked in the door to be greeted by the sight of Peter, Laura, and his dad seated around the table sipping tea.

Taking one pointed look at their clasped hands and pointedly sniffing the air, Laura immediately turned to the other too and spoke two words.

“Pay up,” Laura announced with a smirk.

Peter and his dad shifted to their sides and pulled out their wallets.

Confusion reigned in his mind for a moment, before he comprehended what was going on.

“Wait a second!” Stiles exclaimed, feeling utterly betrayed. Derek just squeezed his hand tighter “You guys were betting on when we’d get together.”

“We had to do something to keep from bashing you two over the head for your stupidity,” Peter said as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

“You could have told us that we both felt the same way,” he

“WE DID!” all three of them yelled in unison.

“But…” For once, he was at a complete loss at what to say. Then he thought of something. “Well, I’m holding all of you—actually only Peter and Laura, since my dad is probably more clueless about it than me—personally responsible for our lack of…togetherness for this long,”

“And just how do you figure that,” Peter inquired.

“Neither of you felt the need to explain about a claiming bite and other wolfy courting behaviors,” Stiles accused. “If you had, I can guarantee that this” he gestured frantically between Derek and himself “would have happened a _loooooong_ long time ago. I mean, I would have been on Derek nonstop after the first time we—”He abruptly stopped himself just as he realized he was about to reveal to his day that he and Derek had sex in his house, when he was still underage. “The first time we realized we were attracted to each other.”

To their credit, Peter and Laura looked just as shocked by his revelation as Derek had the night before. He dad just looked confused, though he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, at Stiles’ momentary trip up.

“Yeah, that key piece of information would have solved a ton of problems,” Stiles crossed his arms with righteous indignation.

“What do you mean explain about a claiming bite?” Peter asked, genuinely startled. “It shouldn’t need explaining.”

“Bitten wolf here,” Stiles enunciated slowly, pointing at himself with both hands for emphasis. “That stuff is obvious to you, not so much for me.”

“You can go into more detail after we clean up,” Derek pulled him in the direction of their room. “We need to shower.”

“Please do,” Laura recovered herself enough to wrinkle her nose at them. “You stink.”

Derek dragged Stiles along behind him, until they were in there room and shut the door, but not before he heard his dad asked if he even wanted to know what a claiming bite was.

“Can you believe they were betting on us, I mean—”

His sentence and his entire thought process were cut off by Derek’s tongue working its way down his throat. For a guy who didn’t speak much, he had a surprisingly talented mouth.

“Do you want to keep talking about them, or do you want to be naked with me in the shower?” Derek asked seductively.

“Shower,” Stiles gasped. “Definitely shower.”

*

When they finished their shower, Stiles was in a very good mood. So good in fact that he didn’t even mind the knock on their door, as they were getting dressed.

“Hope I’m not walking in on a compromising situation,” Peter walked in, not waiting for an answer to his knock.

“Nah, we’re too loud for you to not know when we’re fucking,” Stiles stated proudly as he slipped on a shirt.

“Charming,” Peter said with a tight smile. “I was actually wondering if I might have a word with Stiles…alone.”

“Sure,” Stiles followed Peter out to the cabins front porch. “I take it this is about the whole claiming bit bomb shell.”

“Indeed,” Peter said thoughtfully. “You must know how incredible your progress in learning to control your new nature is. So much so that I often forget that you weren’t born to this like Derek, Laura, and I were.”

“Well, yeah!” Stiles preened. “I’m awesome!”

“What I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry Stiles,” Peter said. “I haven’t done a very good job of teaching you about being a werewolf.”

“Dude, what are you talking about?” Stiles asked. “You’ve done and fantastic job. I mean look at the great control I have. I probably have better control and fighting skills than half the born wolves here.”

“I’m not talking about your control,” Peter explained. “I’m talking about our culture and our history. There’s so much I never taught you about everything and it wasn’t until we were here, among others of our kind that I realized just how much I never explained to you.”

“But it’s not like you really had much time for that stuff,” Stiles protested. “I mean first you had to deal with crazy Alpha who bit me, and then you had to make sure I didn’t rip someone to pieces on full moons, and then I was busy at college, and let’s not forget the hunters last year. Given all that I’d say you did an outstanding job.”

“There was plenty of time in between them where I could have told you so much of this,” Peter sighed. “The only excuse I can offer is that it’s still quite painful to speak of all the things that only help remind us everything we’ve lost.”

“I get it,” Stiles said earnestly. “After my mom died…For a long time my dad and I couldn’t even talk about my mom, let alone all the stuff we used to do together. Holidays were the worst. We didn’t even celebrate Christmas for three years after she died and it was only two years ago that we started bringing back some of the family traditions we used to do with her.”

“Loss had a far reach,” Peter stated philosophically.

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed. “But on the bright side, now we know there are still some gaps in my knowledge, so we can work on fixing them.”

“Yes, I intent to spend the next few weeks racking my brain to think of every bit of knowledge a born wolf would know in an effort rectify this kind of oversight,” Peter promised.

“Every bit of knowledge a born wolf would know, but not everything you know,” Stiles pressed.

“There are certain things only an Alpha should know,” Peter smiled cryptically. “And everyone is entitled to their secrets. Now let’s get back inside, before my nephew comes looking for you like the lost puppy that he is.”

 

 

***Derek***

While Stiles and Peter talked, Derek stayed in the room to finish getting dressed. Pulling a black tank top over his head, he inspected himself in the mirror. It was a typical choice of clothing for him. And if the shirt just happened to perfectly showed off the claiming bite Stiles had given him, then that was just a happy coincidence.

Once Peter and Stiles came back inside, they all ate breakfast—more like a late lunch—and then packed up their things. They loaded their stuff into their rented van and then headed over the Clarke cabin one last time to say their goodbyes. When they arrived, they could see everyone else was already there.

The first ones they ran into were the other two Alphas and the pack elders. They greeted Peter first, but he saw all of them eye the fresh claiming bites on Stiles and him.

“Felicitations to the both of you,” Olivia Reyes proclaimed. “It is said that mates who claim each other under the light of La Luna Brillante are doubly blessed. I expect that the two of you will bring each other great happiness.”

Derek puffed up his chest a little at that. Blushing attractively, Stiles stammered a thank you and then dragged him over to where the younger members of the packs were gathered. As they drew near, he surreptitiously pulled at Stiles’ shirt a little, revealing more of the claiming bite on his mate’s neck.

“Well, look who finally got their acts together,” Isaac smirked, as they approached.

“So, I take it you already heard the good news,” Stiles beamed.

“The whole forest heard the good news last night,” Alicia informed him. “The two of you weren’t exactly quiet.”

Stiles was blushing again but Derek could only grin.

“Not that we didn’t enjoy watching the little soap opera you two had going on,” Erica crossed her arms. “But you to have finally pulled your heads of your asses now, right?”

“Totally,” Stiles said wrapping an arm around Derek.

“What a pity,” Jace muttered.

Derek snarled at him. Just because he was blissfully happy that he had Stiles now, didn’t mean he’d forgotten all the shit Jace had put him through over the last four days.

Boyd placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “Just ignore him. He’s only trying to rile you up. You’re the one with Stiles’ claiming bite after all.

“I guess I can’t really blame you,” Jace continued with a melodramatic sigh, ignoring Boyd and Derek. “He is magnificent looking. I’d want him in my bed for a while too.”

Derek growled, more pissed off at the implication that Stiles would give a claiming bite to someone just to have sex with them, than the implication that he was nothing more than a hot body and a pretty face. Stiles squeezed him tighter.

“You have my number, give me a call, if you ever want a real wolf,” Jace winked. “Or if you can ever convince tall, dark, and broody to try and mix things up in bed a little.”

“Over my dead body,” Derek growled softly, as Stiles laughed.

“What?” Jace asked innocently. “You should be thanking me. The two of you wouldn’t even be together right now, if I hadn’t tried to make a move on Stiles last night.”

“Let me show you how grateful I am,” Derek said menacingly, taking a step forward only to have Stiles hold him back.

“I had a bone to pick with you about that,” Erica fixed her gaze on Stiles. “I get that you didn’t know about a mating bites, but how come you never told Derek how you felt. Derek at least tried but, from what I’ve heard, you didn’t even try to make an effort.”

“Because Stiles is just as emotionally constipated as my brother, only he covers it by being loud and obnoxious,” Laura cut in, walking up behind them.

“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Stile protested. “I just didn’t think I had a chance with someone as hot as Derek.”

Erica gave him a look that told him she wasn’t impressed with his answer in the slightest.

“How do you put up with these idiots?” Erica turned to Laura.

“I’m still asking myself that question,” Laura replied.

“You know, if this is going to turn into a bash Stiles and Derek party, then we can just go. After all, we have a lot of lost time to make up for,” Stiles wiggled his eyebrows. “That reminds me, we’re going to have to buy a truckload of lube.”

Next to him, Laura pretended to gag. “The ride home is going to be unbearable,” she groaned.

 

 

***A few days later***

Peter wasn’t even halfway up the driveway, before the sounds of moaning, gasping, and the rhythmic slapping of skin against skin assaulted his ears. At first, Laura had joked about Derek and Stiles behaving more like werebunnies than werewolves and he was inclined to agree with her. Since they got back from the pack gathering, the two of them had barely come up for air. It appeared that Stiles had only been half joking, when he said that he and Derek were going to make up for all the lost time they’d both wasted believing that the other hadn’t felt the same.

That had been a little less than a week ago. It had also been the last time that Peter and Laura had seen the two of them, before Derek had literally dragged Stiles up to the privacy of his room and slammed the door shut. Unfortunately, the walls of Derek’s room only provided them visual privacy, as Peter and Laura were able to hear _everything_ that the two of them did. Sheer exhaustion forcing the two of them to sleep seemed to be the only time Peter and Laura were granted a reprieve from the truly obscene sounds that came out of that room.

He and Laura had taken to spending as much time as possible either in town or out in the Preserve. John had prudently asked to be dropped off at his house as soon as they got back into town. But not without first reminding Derek of both the shotgun and the service revolver that he owned, if he ever did anything to hurt Stiles. For the past week, John had been operating under ‘ignorance is bliss’ policy and had steadfastly refused to listen to any complaints from Peter and Laura, on the premise that he didn’t want to know anything about his son’s sex life.

“Hmm, it sounds like Stiles in on top this time,” Peter observed casually, as he walked in the door. “Derek is always so much more _vocal_ whenever Stiles tops.”

“Ugh, that’s just another example of something I _never_ wanted to know about my brother,” Laura groaned in disgust. She had stopped finding it amusing about two days after getting back.

“Ah well, that’s young love for you,” Peter sighed dramatically. He still found it hilarious.

 “They’ve been going at it for days,” Laura whined, “Ever since we got back. It’s gotten so bad that I can even smell it in my room, _down the hall_ ; let alone what I have to hear.”

“Well, you’re the one who keeps leaving food outside their door for them,” Peter replied, amused at the disgusted face his niece was making. “Maybe you should stop and try starving them out.”

“So they can end up having sex in the kitchen, when they come out for food,” Laura complained. “No thank you.” Sigh “I guess this is a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ because this is definitely not what I had in mind, when I wished for the two of them to finally realize that they loved each other.”

“It’s not so bad. And Stiles is heading back to Berkeley in a few days,” Peter laughed. “Things should quiet down then.”

“Great!” Laura cheered sarcastically. “So then Derek can go back to pouting about Stiles being so far away. I don’t know which is worse, dopey sex-addled Derek or mopey sex-deprived Derek.”

“Maybe Derek could go and visit Stiles at Berkeley for a few days,” Peter said. “It would give us a few days of peace.”

“Yeah,” Laura huffed. “And then Stiles would get kicked out of his dorm for too many noise complaints.”

“Stiles will be a sophomore this year, won’t he? And I believe that sophomores can live off campus,” Peter said nonchalantly. “And I have been thinking of investing in some real estate close to Berkeley.”

“We would have to make sure it was sound proofed,” Laura added, her interest perking up.

“Yes, and Derek’s gas bill will probably triple with how often he’ll drive up there, but that’ll be his problem,” Peter smirked.

There was a loud cracking noise followed by a hard thump above them, like something breaking and a heavy object—or two joined heavy objects—falling to the ground, but the moaning, grunting, and sounds of skin against skin continued without pause.

“Looks like they finally broke the bed,” Peter noted. “I was wondering when that would happen.”

“We should start looking for a real estate agent, right now,” Laura said, while opening a new search window on her laptop.

Peter just smiled.

 

 

***Lunaria, Twelve Years Later***

Pulling up to the Hale house in his Toyota—he traded in his Camaro shortly after his daughter was born—he took a second to listen to the comforting sounds of his pack within. He’d only been gone fifteen minutes for his last perimeter check of the night but his wolf never liked being far from them, especially on Lunaria. Sunset was still a little ways away and moonrise another few hours after that but his wolf was already close to the surface.

Walking up the front steps, he admired the sparkling crystals hanging in the front windows. Those were a recent addition to the Hale Lunaria celebration, one that Stiles had appropriated from the Reyes pack.

He reached the front door but paused before opening it to brace himself. Peter had managed to find all the same night-blooming flowers they used to fill the house with on the Lunaria before the fire. The potent mixture of familiar scents hit him like a punch to the stomach. Even after five years of renewing their Lunaria traditions, the scent of those flowers still affected him this strongly and probably always would. Smell was the most powerful trigger for memory and right now he couldn’t help the waterfall of memories washing over him; laughing and running around the house with his cousins, sitting at his grandfather’s feet to hear stories of their history, just having them all gathered together under one roof. He swore he could almost hear his mother’s laughter coming from the kitchen.

The sounds of actual laughter coming from the living room roused him from his reverie. Setting his keys down on the table near the door, he made his way to the other room. The first thing he spotted was his four-year-old daughter mock wrestling her great-uncle Peter on the living room floor. Peter was reclining on the floor declared his mock surrender, while his daughter stood on his chest. Naturally Peter could have effortlessly dislodged the forty pound little girl, but he could never deny her anything.

“I beat you,” she proclaimed in joyous triumph. “I’m the Alpha now!”

“Talia Claudia Stilinski-Hale,” Derek chuckled. “Let your poor Uncle Peter up.”

“Daddy, you’re back!” She exclaimed, as she climbed off of Peter and ran into his arms.

He effortlessly lifter her up and spun her in the air, while she squealed in delight. A perfect copy of his own hazel eyes stared back at him, filled with more innocence and infinitely more deviousness. She might physically take after Derek, but she had Stiles’ smile, his intelligence, his boundless curiosity, and—unfortunately—his natural inclination for mischief.

“Daddy, put me down,” she squirmed after a few moments. “You’re crushing my dress. Doesn’t it look _so_ _pretty_?”

She had been asking that non-stop ever since he helped her put it on that morning. And she did look beautiful in the little white dress embroidered with silver stars and crescent moons. Wisps of her raven dark hair were escaping the crescent-shaped moonstone barrettes that were a gift from Auntie Laura. He thought she was the most beautiful little girl that ever existed, though he might be the tiniest bit biased.

“It looks gorgeous,” he told her with the absolute truth.

“Unca Peter is gonna tell us stories ‘bout the bit of Gevy-dan soon,” she informed him.

“La Bête du Gévaudan,” Derek corrected gently.

“Yeah, that,” she giggled. “And then Papa says we can have cake after!”

“Where is your Papa at anyways?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. He just enjoyed letting her use her budding werewolf senses. The look of intense concentration of her face, as she focused her hearing to locate Stiles’ heartbeat, was one of the cutest things he’d ever witnessed.

“He’s in the dining room arguing with grandpa,” she clapped her hands in success. “The babies are with them.”

“Hey little Alpha,” Peter called for attention. “Why don’t you let your daddy go talk with your papa and you and I can have a rematch.”

“Okay!” little Talia agreed, charging back toward Peter.

Chuckling as he watched his daughter attempt to knock Peter to the ground, he edged his way around them towards the dining room. It was decorated the same way they used to do it before the fire, white and silver streamers all around the room, joining together at the center of the room at the crystal chandelier, like the inside of a circus tent. There he found his mate squabbling with his father-in-law.

The now retired Sheriff of Beacon Hills had aged well. There were a few more wrinkles on his face and a sprinkling of silver in his hair, but other than that, he hadn’t changed much. Sitting down it was more obvious that he was a little broader around the middle but he was still in good shape. In his arms he held one of Derek and Stiles’ six-month-old twin boys.

“Dad, that’s your fifth cookie,” Stiles snatched a sugar cookie from his father’s hand, while balancing their other son in his other arm. “You’ve had more than enough _and_ you’re going to be having cake soon.”

 “Son, I’m trying to celebrate with my grandchildren,” John sighed. “You would think you could cut me a little slack on holidays.”

“I cut you plenty of slack on Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Stiles gripped. “And it’s thanks to my strict diet that you’re even alive to see your grandkids.”

Neither of his sons was old enough to start showing any signs of being a werewolf yet but it didn't matter. He would still love them the same, whether they were human or werewolf. Tyler, the younger twin by ten minutes, was happily blowing spit bubbles in his grandfather’s arms.  Dylan, on the other hand, was actively trying to join the conversation, babbling incomprehensible baby talk and shrieking loudly, whenever he felt like he wasn’t getting enough attention. Derek just knew that Dylan would be a handful growing up, just like Stiles.

He walked up to them and kissed both his sons’ heads, before giving his husband a quick peck on the cheek. Sometimes it still amazed him that he and Stiles were married, with three beautiful children, and that he could kiss him whenever he wanted, which is probably why he took advantage of it whenever he could.

“All clear on the western front,” John teased.

Even though there hadn’t been hunter or even the rumor of hunters in their territory in years, he still kept his guard up. Still rigorously patrolled the Preserve, doubling his efforts on Lunaria.

“All clear,” Derek returned with a smile.

“Don’t think that you can sneak more cookies by changing the subject,” Stiles narrowed his eyes. “I know all your tricks old man.”

“In that case, I think I’ll go watch my granddaughter beat up the Alpha,” John said standing up. “Give me Dylan, so you can go check on the cake?”

“I’ll smell it, when it’s ready,” Stiles huffed but he handed Dylan off to his father and then turned toward him.

Derek studied his mate’s appearance. Stiles had grown out of his coltishness and there was no trace of baby fat left in his face, but that didn’t diminish his attractiveness in the slightest. Especially wearing his white silk button up that only served to highlight his mate’s delectable, creamy skin.

“So, no sign of anything suspicious,” Stiles asked him seriously, when John was out of the room.

Peter, Laura, and John would sometimes tease Derek about his vigilance but Stiles understood. His mate never questioned his commitment to protecting their pack. Not now that he had more to lose than ever before.

“Everything is fine,” Derek assured.

“Good,” Stiles said, wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck and kissing him. “Now go upstairs and change. I laid your shirt out on the bed for you.”

“Yes sir,” Derek purred, brushing their lips together one more time.

“And have some more to eat,” Stiles ordered, as he headed to the kitchen. “Moonrise and the hunt are still hours away.”

On the dining room table, there were the decimated remains of what had been a truly impressive spread of snacks. He was able to scrounge up a few things: some crackers, a few circular cut pieces of white cheddar cheese, a couple of white peach slices, and even a few pierogi. The pierogi were also another recent addition to the Hale Lunaria celebration. They were an old recipe that Stiles’ mother used to make and that Stiles hadn’t had since his mother had passed away. The little half-moon shaped dumplings fit in perfectly, both with the lunar theme and with the passing down of family traditions. They were also great for keeping hungry werewolves tided over until they could go outside and hunt their real dinner.

After he ate, Derek made his way up to his and Stiles’ room to wash up and change. A white silk shirt, identical to the one his mate wore, was laid out on the bed, just like Stiles said. Showering quickly, he changed and headed back downstairs.

He came into the living room in the middle of Peter’s retelling of the story of La Bête du Gévaudan. Talia was sitting on Peter’s lap, while John and the twins were taking up one end of the couch. After several years of this, Peter had perfected his storytelling skills to a point where even Talia would sit still for hours listening to him, rapt fascination etched on her face, and that was no mean feat.

 _This is why we celebrate._ He thought warming, taking in the scene before him.

The first few times they’d tried to celebrate Lunaria, after the first Pack Gathering, had been difficult. It kept bringing up too many old memories without the joy of the other packs to buffer the pain. That had changed with the birth of his daughter. He wanted his daughter to have as happy of a childhood as he had. He wanted to pass down his family’s traditions. He wanted her to be proud of what she was. The feeling only intensified, when the twins were born.

Not wanting to interrupt, he backed out of the room and into the hall. He could hear Stiles bustling around in the kitchen and would have joined him but no one was allowed in the kitchen until the cake was done.

Instead, he headed out to the back porch, where Laura and her husband, Evan, were talking softly. Evan had been a werewolf from a pack on the East Coast. He came out to California for college and stayed for Laura. They’d been married for two years and were expecting their first child in two months.

Seeing her in the light of the setting sun, he had to admit that she looked radiant in a flowing white gown that showed off her rounded, pregnant belly. The only thing that marred the perfect scene was how rigid and stiff she was standing, with her chin up and her shoulders back. Peter had convinced her to their mother’s antique butterfly moonstone necklace this year and she was evidently terrified of doing anything that would harm it.

“Hey you,” Laura smiled as she saw him approach. “Time for cake already?”

“No, I just didn’t want to interrupt story time,” he explained.

The three of them chatted for a little while, until they heard Talia’s voice moving through the house.

“I the story’s over,” Evan observed. “I think I’ll go help clear the table for the cake.”

“So, you two agree on any names yet?” Derek asked.

“Not yet,” Laura said stroking her belly.

Then she noticed that she was slouching and immediately stood straighter. Derek raised an eyebrow at that.

“I know I’m being ridiculous but I can’t help it,” Laura groaned. “What if something happens and it breaks?”

“If it breaks, then we’ll fix it,” Derek said softly, gently taking hold of her hand and giving it an encouraging squeeze. “Things can always be fixed.”

The fire had broken them all those years ago and it had taken a long time, but they were finally healing. Tears glittered at the edges of her eyes as she smiled at him.

“DADDY! AUNTIE LAURA!” his daughter hollered from the dining room. “Papa’s about to bring out the cake! We’re waiting for you!”

Derek and Laura shared a look and laughed.

“Well, we better not keep your daughter waiting,” Laura teased. “I hear she’s our new Alpha.”

Linking arms, they rejoined the rest of the pack in the dining room just in time for Stiles to bring out a cake that more than rivaled any his mother used to make. Eating his slice next to his mate, he sighed in contentment.

“Don’t go all broody on me now, Sourwolf,” Stiles poked him in the ribs. “This is a happy occasion.”

“I’ve never been happier,” Derek replied truthfully, wrapping an arm around his mate.

They’d been through a lot over the years and they would probably have to deal with even more in the future but right now everything was perfect.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally finished! I still have a few ideas for little mini-fics that take place in this universe, including one about Stiles' pregnancy for those of you who aren't quite ready to let this story go. I'm not sure exactly when they'll be posted because I really want to get back to some of my other stories, but I promise that I won't forget about them.
> 
> For those of you who like my writing, I'll be switching my focus onto the two stories I started for the Sterek Campaign. One is a Coffee Shop AU called 'Coffee & Politics' and the other is a Robin Hood AU called 'The Legend of Red Hood', if you're interested. I also have an idea for a story featuring Braeden that's been bouncing around in my head for a while, so be on the lookout for it.
> 
> As always, comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged. Hope you guys enjoyed :D

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few notes. Some of you might have noticed that Erica, Boyd, and Isaac will be in this story as well. I decided to make them members of the other packs at the gathering, instead of from Beacon Hills so you should meet them in the next chapter along with some of my own original characters.
> 
> Secondly, I have no idea how things work at Berkeley or the name of the head of the Archeology Department, if they even have one. Professor Brunner is based off of Chiron's human alias in the Percy Jackson series because I thought he looked like a perfect College professor.
> 
> Third, the topic of Stiles final paper that he and Professor Bunner are talking about comes from a really interesting book I read recently called 'Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World' by Adrienne Mayor. If you're interested in those kinds of things then you should check it out.
> 
> And Lasty, I have planned out ten chapters for this story but that might change as the story progresses. Hope you liked the first chapter. I always love hearing from my readers, either in the comments or you can follow me at LuminescentLily.tumblr.com


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